In pursuit of rigour and accountability in participatory design

Abstract

The field of Participatory Design (PD) has greatly diversified and we see a broad spectrum of approaches and methodologies emerging. However, to foster its role in designing future interactive technologies, a discussion about accountability and rigour across this spectrum is needed. Rejecting the traditional, positivistic framework, we take inspiration from related fields such as Design Research and Action Research to develop interpretations of these concepts that are rooted in PD׳s own belief system. We argue that unlike in other fields, accountability and rigour are nuanced concepts that are delivered through debate, critique and reflection. A key prerequisite for having such debates is the availability of a language that allows designers, researchers and practitioners to construct solid arguments about the appropriateness of their stances, choices and judgements.To this end, we propose a “tool-to-think-with” that provides such a language by guiding designers, researchers and practitioners through a process of systematic reflection and critical analysis. The tool proposes four lenses to critically reflect on the nature of a PD effort: epistemology, values, stakeholders and outcomes. In a subsequent step, the coherence between the revealed features is analysed and shows whether they pull the project in the same direction or work against each other. Regardless of the flavour of PD, we argue that this coherence of features indicates the level of internal rigour of PD work and that the process of reflection and analysis provides the language to argue for it. We envision our tool to be useful at all stages of PD work: in the planning phase, as part of a reflective practice during the work, and as a means to construct knowledge and advance the field after the fact. We ground our theoretical discussions in a specific PD experience, the ECHOES project, to motivate the tool and to illustrate its workings.

"This is how I want to learn"

“…However, we believe that by being flexible about the context of work the engagement of the stakeholders is naturally strengthened because sessions are tailored specifically for their needs, varied moods and interests. This reflection is in line with [16,32] who emphasize the importance of taking a flexible approach. Although a specific period of time was planned for the session, the amount of effective work achieved during that time varied considerably.…”

“…This reflects that equity on all aspects was not something that could be achieved consistently through the project [32]. However, this confirms that adults also play an important role [6,16]. Not only did adults' interventions impact the design outcomes by having the final decision [35] but this influenced the students' participation in valuable ways by constraining the design space and encouraging them to think again.…”

Participation as a matter of concern in participatory design

“…Thus, the contribution of this article is analytical. Our aim resonates with the work of Frauenberger et al (2015), who call for nuanced understandings of rigour and accountability in PD, and emphasise a need for tools to think with, which allow for debate, critique and reflection.…”

Identifying Objectives for a Learning Space Management System with Value-focused Thinking

“…In user-centred design, ethnology, and contextual design, participation can be characterised as an approach by the designer to gain information from participants. The fundamental difference in participatory design is that it encourages participants to actively take part in the decision making and creative processing of the solution (Frauenberger et al, 2015). The goal of participatory design is not just to empirically understand the design activity (or users, as in user-centred design), but to simultaneously envision, shape, and transcend it to benefit the participants (Spinuzzi, 2005).…”

“…We grounded our research in two assumptions: First, to get a better understanding of teachers' work, we needed to involve our stakeholders and arrange user-centred workshops based on participatory design principles. Participatory design emphasises shared decision-making, which is crucial when different stakeholders are involved (Frauenberger et al, 2015). Second, traditional requirements elicitation concentrates on identifying system's goals, functionality, and limitations (Pacheco and Garcia, 2012).…”