The brief wasn't simply "create an illustration." My task was to apply the method of speculative design. The goal of this method isn't to predict the future, but to materialize possible scenarios – often controversial ones – so we can discuss them before they become reality. In the course of our collaboration, I generated dozens of different variants and artifacts, from wearables to digital services. For the purpose of this article, however, I will focus on one specific concept that elicited the strongest reactions – the PulseNest. Roman Sellner and Natálie Káčová provided me with a scenario of the world in 2050, where technology in the care of grieving parents is a common commodity. My task was to create a believable ecosystem for this world. It wasn't enough to just create a product. I had to show its entire life cycle: how it is sold, how it is reported in the news, and what happens to it when no one wants it anymore. The power of speculative design lies in its banality. If the artifacts looked like props from Black Mirror, the viewer could easily dismiss them as unrealistic. But if they look like something that pops up in your morning news feed or on Facebook, the defense mechanisms crumble, and a sense of chilling unease sets in. Phase 1: The Commodification of Grief (The Catalog) The first step was to create a product that promises comfort. I placed the PulseNest artifact within the aesthetic of a department store catalog. Fig. 1: PulseNest in the aesthetic of a global retail chain. The visual combines a homely atmosphere with a technological description of a product that "plays back the actual heart rhythm and breath of your child." The £990 price tag adds a terrifying reality – grief becomes an item in a shopping cart. Phase 2: Institutionalization (News 2050) For the world to be believable, society must react to technology. Therefore, I created a fictional article from the iDNES.cz news server dated 2050. Fig. 2: Fictional article "PulseNest Enters Czech Hospitals." The text simulates public debate – quoting enthusiastic ministry spokespeople as well as skeptical psychologists warning against "pathological mourning." This artifact demonstrates how such technology would be normalized in the public space. Phase 3: Waste and Forgetting (Marketplace) The most chilling part of my work was the visual showing the end of the product's life cycle. What happens to a pillow that simulates the heartbeat of a dead child when the parents no longer want it? Fig. 3: Ad on Facebook Marketplace. The text "Selling our PulseNest, we no longer need it" for 5,000 CZK is a brutal collision of sacred grief and banal consumerism. It shows the moment when a "tool of love" becomes "used goods" that need to be discarded.