Speculative Design

Future-oriented projects, whether physically or digitally produced, designed for the purpose of cultural commentary, intervention, or exploration, or created as speculative design for a client or educational institution. Examples include: alternative structures, device protoypes for social needs, hypothetical wearable implants.

2025 Speculative Design Jury

  • Jury Captain

    Tiange Wang

    Senior Software Designer, IDEO

    Tiange Wang is an award-winning and internationally-exhibiting designer and creative technologist. Her work investigates innovative interactive paradigms among humans, technology and the environment. As a designer-developer hybrid, she enjoys designing novel experiential futures as much as bringing them to life, integrating interaction design, software prototyping, storytelling and system thinking into a cohesive, full-stack design process. Tackling subjects like climate change, holistic wellbeing, multisensory experiences and speculative futures, she employs mediums including multimodal interaction, creative data visualization, multimedia art, installation, food, mix-reality, software, AI and games.

    As a senior software designer at IDEO, she leads teams in crafting human-centered, planet-conscious, data-informed and GenAI-enabled product experiences across web, mobile and spatial computing platforms. She guides clients through transformative journeys across industries such as health, climate, media, technology, and consumer products, taking ideas from 0 to 1 and transforming them into market-ready products.

    Her work has received numerous prestigious awards and been showcased at prominent venues like SXSW, SIGGRAPH, and CHI, presented at institutions including Stanford, Harvard, and the MIT Museum, and featured in leading outlets such as Fast Company, Dezeen, and others.

    Tiange holds a Master of Architecture from Harvard Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture with High Honors from the University of California, Berkeley.

  • Jury Member

    Jaka Neon

    Director of Design, Bird Buddy Inc.

    Jaka Neon is a passionate design director at Bird Buddy, where creativity meets innovation to redefine birdwatching. With a sharp eye for aesthetics and a deep understanding of user-centered design, Jaka leads a talented team in creating visually stunning and intuitive products that reconnect people with nature in the backyard.

    Jaka’s career has been defined by a commitment to combining form and function, blending cutting-edge design with sustainability. A natural leader and collaborator, Jaka thrives on transforming ideas into impactful experiences, ensuring every project resonates with its audience while maintaining the highest standards of quality.

    Outside of work, Jaka enjoys exploring art, fashion, ikebana making, and the simple joys of observing nature—a personal passion that aligns seamlessly with Bird Buddy’s mission.

  • Jury Member

    I-Yang Huang

    Cofounder, VLab

    Iyang Huang is a creative technologist and cofounder of VLab, whose work delves into emerging design trends and innovative opportunities arising from generative AI and creative programming. Iyang is passionate about connection with nature and how design can foster authentic experience to promote wellness. His projects span interaction design, multi-sensory data experiences, speculative spaces and industrial design with a specialty in visual storytelling.