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What We Do

  • Who We Are
  • IFTF Vantage Partnership
  • IFTF Foresight Essentials
  • Forecasts
  • Workshops
  • Maps
  • Artifacts from the Future
  • Events
  • In the News
  • Media Center
  • Gallery
  • History of the Future
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Maps

Visual Frameworks

Maps are visual forecasts. They provide an at-a-glance look at the future—typically revealing not only the analytical framework, but also a host of perspectives, signals, scenarios, and even artifacts of the future. They are IFTF’s all-in-one views of the future. 

Maps can take many forms, from matrixes and mandalas to timelines and roadmaps. In their simplest forms, they may plot five or six key trends across an equal number of domains, such as people, places, markets, practices, and tools. This basic matrix provides a conceptual framework for organizing diverse signals and aggregating them up to future “hot spots” for a particular organization, team, or community.

A custom forecast map is an important strategic tool for identifying opportunities and threats, possible zones of innovation, and strategic responses to a changing landscape. It can form the core of workshop processes or help align teams across an organization with a common view of the future. It may be the single most important futures tool for developing a coherent view of a complex future.

We create both printable maps and, more recently, online maps.

Examples

  • 20 Combinatorial Forecasts: The Technology Horizon (online and pdf)
  • Seeds of Disruption: How Technology is Remaking the Future of Food (online and pdf)
  • The Future of Cities, Information and Inclusion
  • Ecosystems of Well-Being

Learn More

For more information about the Institute for the Future and ways to work with us, contact:

John Clamme | [email protected]

  • Institute for the Future

  • 201 Hamilton Avenue
  • Palo Alto, CA 94301
  • 650.854.6322
  • [email protected]

  • © 2023 Institute for the Future

    What We Do

  • Who We Are
  • IFTF Vantage Partnership
  • IFTF Foresight Essentials
  • Forecasts
  • Workshops
  • Maps
  • Artifacts from the Future
  • Events
  • In the News
  • Media Center
  • Gallery
  • History of the Future

    Our Work

  • Featured Projects
  • Global Landscape
  • People + Technology
  • Health + Self

    Partner with IFTF

  • IFTF Vantage
  • IFTF Foresight Essentials
  • Research Labs
  • Partners
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

    Future Now

    Donate