Designers as fans: bottom-up online explorations of new technology concepts as a genre of design fan fictions

This paper explores the intersection between the participatory culture mechanism of fan fiction, and the emerging trend of user-generated design fiction scenarios exploring new technological design ideas. We propose this intersection is showing an under-appreciated form of online participation in the exploration of the potential of new digital technologies, so-called ‘design fan fictions’. Here, online users launch small fiction scenarios depicting their personal vision or interpretation of a specific genre of technology. Our contribution is a mapping of how this form of bottom-up exploration can be seen as a valuable resource for design, informed by the most dedicated ‘fans’ within the technological discourse.