World Building

The practice of creating internally-consistent imaginary worlds by drawing on reality, history, and research while building on that through creativity and speculation.

World Building is closely associated with Design Fiction, where fictional worlds provide the context for prototype designs to exist and be tested. These worlds can range from near-future scenarios to radical futures far into the future.

World Building allows designers and researchers to prototype complex, future-focused "what if" questions by creating detailed and believable contexts. The internal consistency of these worlds is crucial, and they are often reinforced through multiple artefacts (objects, documents, images, etc) that make the world feel plausible and real.