ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes an understanding of the design of the digital–material environment which builds on two bodies of literature: first, on discussions of ‘visions of future’ in design and technology research; and second, on the call from Design Anthropology to take seriously ethnographic research on imagination. It suggests the imaginaries are connected with a broader global future and have less significance in the design, whereas the visions of future are informed by the local experience of the designers and have a crucial role in the materialization of design projects. Visions imply a ‘willed social change’ while imaginaries are experienced as an inspiration for creativity. Both are related allies, for example in science fiction narratives, and have a central role in design. In the case of the low-cost sensor design process addressed here, citizenship, in the form of shared imaginaries, has a distinctive role among other imaginaries.
