Clive van Heerden is creative director of Philips 'Design Probes' program. Philips Design Probes is a dedicated ‘far-future' research initiative to track trends and developments that may ultimately evolve into mainstream issues that have a significant impact on business. Emerging developments in five main areas are tracked - politics, economics, environment, technology and culture. The outcomes of this 'far-future' research are used to identify systemic shifts, with the aim of understanding ‘lifestyle' post 2020. These shifts could affect business in years to come and that could lead to new areas in which to develop intellectual property.

The main objective of this program is to stimulate the discussion and register feedback, challenging conventional ways of thinking to come up with concepts to stimulate debate. Deliverables range from scenarios and narratives to the creation of experience prototypes and IP fortressing.