061 Participatory Design

A human-centered approach advocating codesign engagement with users and stakeholders

• Participatory design has its roots in Scandinavia in the 1970s, where computer professionals worked with unions to integrate new technology into the workplace.

• Participatory design encompasses several methods, unified by face-to-face contact in activity-based codesign engagements.

• Methods include cultural probes, diary studies, photo studies, collage, flexible modeling, role-playing, creative tool kits, and design workshops.

• Participatory design respects the creative insight of participants to inspire and help guide the design process and to respond to design outcomes.

• A framework of participatory design describes the form of method or technique (making, telling, and enacting) and purpose.

• Purposes are probing participants for self-discovery, priming for further participation, understanding current experience, and generation of future scenarios and concepts.

See also   Creative Toolkits • Design Workshops

In this participatory design project on appliance design for the aging population, participants use creative toolkits for design input and offer feedback on prototypes.