The method originated during the World War II, when it was used to check the effectiveness of propaganda films. Hollywood movie studios continue to screen movies to focus groups during production of a film, and use the feedback to modify characters, plot lines, and movie endings.

The use of the method has expanded to marketing and politics, and in the 1990s has become popular with technology companies who wanted to get early feedback on their existing or upcoming software or hardware products.

The visioning workshop is an exploratory research method that is more unique to experience development, in that designers and others who are involved in the product development process, join a group of potential users, and together they work through a series of exercises meant to yield the most desirable features the product should have.