RAGNE MATHIESEN

From Taboos To Talk        


Master thesis project at The Oslo School of Architecture and Design
Speculative Design / Strategic Design / Service Design  / Interaction Design
This project won the AHO award for Best use of strategic design  
From Taboos to talk was also nominated to the award for Sustainability


This speculative design diploma reimagines how we deal with sexuality education. Design is not always about polished results- this project is about creating space for dialogue and reflection










Through four future scenarios, we speculate on how sexuality education in Norway might evolve, driven by two key questions:

Should the focus be solely on children or across generations?

Should it happen in public spaces or private ones?

The diploma reimagines how and where we learn about bodies, feelings, gender, identity, and wellbeing. Using storytelling and future narratives, we aim to spark reflection, reduce discrimination, and encourage respectful relationships.

We have also developed a workshop toolkit to help participants share experiences, reflect, and discuss future possibilities for sexuality education. Visit taboostotalk.com to download the toolkit and explore the scenarios.



Our process
The future scenarios were developed through participatory design, hosting workshops, interviews and testing with parents, children, teachers, experts, and interest groups. To challenge our own biases, we collaborated closely with users from diverse backgrounds and needs. 










Future artifacts

To make the scenarios  tangible and engaging, we created thirteen future artifacts, developed through continuous co-creation with users. Here are some of them:
What could a campaign look like for encouraging
adults to use the correct terms when talking about sexuality?

What could conversation cards on sexuality look like 
if they were came from the government?
What if there were warnings on unrealistic showings of sex?
What if the Directorate of Health made their 
own ethical porn to teach kids about consent? 
What could be reactions to these services? 
What if primary school pupils had better tools to talk about sexuality in the classroom?
What if there was a dictionary for talking about sexuality that the governemnt provided?
What if kids were taught to love their bodies? 













Exhibition as a way of testing







Turning it into something lasting

Before completing our diploma, we wanted to turn our four scenarios and the accompanying tool into something lasting. More dialogue means fewer taboos — that’s why we made our tool accessible to everyone.

The result is Tools for Turning Taboos to Talk — a free workshop kit based on our future scenarios. It helps participants reflect, discuss, and take action. The kit and facilitator guide are available at taboostotalk.com.