Latest Posts
- Critical Ecological Representations: Object-Oriented Metaphorism as Design Praxis
- Sensual Environmental Robots: Entanglements of Speculative Realist Ideas with Design Theory and Practice
- The difficulty of leaving human-dominance in more-than-human contexts
- Defining boundaries of an MVP through philosophic reasoning
Welcome to Future Human by Design (FHbD)
27 July 2020, (updated 10 November 2025)
With a framing of Design Research and Practice, this blog publishes a range of research, which explores the overlaps of Futures, Design, and Philosophy.
The research covers a range of topics including: Object-Oriented Philosophies, Philosophy of Design, Philosophy of Technology, Humanitarian Scenarios, Futures Thinking, Design Studies, and Ontological Design.
This website includes various introductions and writings to my (Dr Steven Santer) design research including outputs from my completed doctoral research (2025) as well as from my masters research (2020). Originally, this project was part of research and assignment work while I was undertaking RMIT University’s Masters of Design Futures (MDF) Design Leadership coursework (2019). Since its early days of focussing on the overlap between Futures and Design Thinking, this blog has grown little by little to include research into the domain of philosophy of design which formed part of my masters and more fully in my doctoral research with ongoing exploration of philosophical considerations in design research and praxis.
If you are new to Futures Thinking, check out the 1 minute future series of animations that explain some core concepts and terms. This was going to be a series of animations on futures thinking for designers but when I began my doctorate the project lapsed—perhaps animations which expound design philosophy ideas is a worthy consideration.
Through blog articles, Future Human by Design will continue to grow and explore the fascinating emergent worlds for design praxis which exist at the intersections of disciplines and methods of thinking and doing.
Enjoy the topics, and together let us design a more futural, equal and just social and ecologically conscious society.
