How Speculative Futures Munich organizes itself with Stackfield

About the Future Network Speculative Futures Munich

As a so-called Chapter of the globally active Design Futures Initiative from California, the German Future Network Speculative Futures Munich, concerns itself with Futures Literacy, innovative ideas, and above all with futures. The Design Futures Initiative aims to build a global community of creative-minded and future-interested people. The Future Network from Munich is hosted by the Institut für Praktische Emergenz, the future consultant Shape of New, and a small core group of students, interested parties, and private individuals. We want to make networks from Munich and the surrounding area that are implicitly or explicitly involved in shaping the future visible to each other and encourage exchange between them, explains Rike Pätzold, head of the Insitut für Praktische Emergenz.

Too many tools without a central overview

Before Speculative Futures Munich opted for Stackfield, the team had been using many different tools, including Notion, Slack and Nextcloud, for different needs. This often led to confusion regarding storage locations and long searches for the right information. Rike Pätzold remembers how chaotic it was to use many tools at the same time. Nobody knew where the photos from the last event were. There was a great need for a collaboration tool that was as integrated as possible, as the aim was to combine the previously used tools into one tool as efficiently as possible.

The Munich-based collaboration tool for the Munich-based Future Network

Fortunately, Rike Pätzold had already gained experience with Stackfield in another project. I've worked with Stackfield in the past and thought it was great. Above all, the people behind it were incredibly nice. Stackfield's user-friendly interface and high security standards had stuck in Pätzold's mind, and she didn't hesitate to choose Stackfield again as an all-in-one solution. The icing on the cake? As a Munich-based company, Stackfield was the perfect solution for the Munich-based Future Network.

Taking first steps with Stackfield

Once the decision to use Stackfield had been made, Pätzold sat down with a colleague to plan the onboarding process for the entire team and to get to know Stackfield better. Step by step, Stackfield was filled with content and set up for the Future Network's intended use. After additional guidelines for the use of Stackfield in the team were defined, the tool was finally introduced and familiarized to all participants.

All files in one place

Before Stackfield was used for team collaboration at Speculative Futures Munich, one problem in particular made the team's day-to-day work difficult. Since various tools were in use, files were stored in many places at the same time and in a disorganized manner. This meant that a lot of time was inevitably spent searching for specific files.

Stackfield presented a long-awaited file overview. In Stackfield, files can be stored centrally, in one place, and accessible to all. The files module in the room lists all files for the team and the overview can be refined using various filters. A module search also enables quick searches by file name. The team now knows immediately where the relevant file is located and no longer has to worry about different filing systems.

Versatile use of Stackfield: event management, knowledge database and networking

Today, Stackfield is used wherever information needs to be collected, organized, and processed. Thus, the Future Network organizes and documents events, for example, their input for the Munich Creative Business Week via Stackfield, for example via detailed minutes in the form of discussions. In addition, interesting topics, content, and ideas are stored as files or compiled in the Stackfield chat so that they can be accessed again at any time via the history. On top of this, the entire stakeholder management takes place via Stackfield. Rike Pätzold is convinced that Stackfield makes numerous processes easier and is a great support for the team in everyday life.

What role does Stackfield play in everyday life?

Rike Pätzold keeps the desktop app open on her computer and the mobile app installed on her cell phone. This way, she is always well-informed about news and can respond to messages in Stackfield while on the move. In addition, she benefits from the option to customize the notifications to her personal needs to ensure that she is only notified of changes that are relevant to her.

Praise for the Stackfield support team

Rike Pätzold is particularly impressed by Stackfield's Support and so she concludes with a word of praise: Stackfield's Support is great. I was amazed at how nice the people are and how quickly they answer. I have to say that's very positive.