Participatory Design and Participatory Research

Abstract

Participatory design (PD) in HCI has been successfully applied to vulnerable groups, but further research is still needed on forced migrants. We report on a month-long case study with a group of about 25 young forced migrants (YFMs), where we applied and adapted strategies from PD and participatory research (PR). We gained insights into the benefits and drawbacks of combining PD and PR concepts in this particular scenario. The PD+PR approach supported intercultural collaborations between YFMs and young members of the host community. It also enabled communication across language barriers by using visual and "didactic reduction" resources. On a theoretical level, the experiences we gained allowed us to reflect on the role of "safe spaces" for participation and the need for further discussing it in PD. Our results can benefit researchers who take part in technology-related participatory processes with YFMs. CCS Concepts: • Human-centered computing → Participatory design; Human computer interaction (HCI); • Social and professional topics → Cultural characteristics;

Geo-C: Enabling Open Cities and the Open City Toolkit

“…These included issues such as (young) forced migrants' limited knowledge of the local language, their collective ways for information access and sharing, and adult forced migrants occasional inexperience with digital (geospatial) services (Bustamante et al, 2018a). Subsequently, an active search for adaptations of participatory design approaches with young forced migrants was carried out, by combining it with core concepts and strategies (e.g., 'safe spaces', didactic reduction, reflective thinking) from participatory research, and didactics (Bustamante et al, 2018b). Results in terms of open-source prototype services were developed on the road towards transformations of digital (geospatial) services for and with young forced migrants.…”

Participation & (Re)settlement : envisioning mobile services with young forced migrants

“…Children refugees may extend their perspective over the boundaries of the refugee camp while acquiring new skills and contacts; and student volunteers gain a better understanding of the needs and struggles of the camp inhabitants. Lastly, Bustamante Duarte et al (2018) conducted workshops with young forced migrants and young locals in Münster, Germany in order to codesign a mobile tool to support the former upon arrival and first stages of (re)settlement. Their study pointed out that the combination of participatory design and participatory research strategies is useful for engaging and building trust with young forced migrants while designing digital services for them.…”

“…Research: an HCI case study with young forced migrants This chapter was published in ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction as Ana Maria Bustamante Duarte, Nina Brendel, Auriol Degbelo, and Christian Kray. 2018.…”

“…The authors defined 'safe spaces' as learning environments where trust and support are fostered without silencing feelings of discomfort and voices of dissent 'towards more palatable forms of discourse.' Lastly, Bustamante Duarte et al (2018) introduced the concept of 'safe spaces' in an HCI project carried out with young forced migrants in a formal education set-up as a result of combining principles from participatory research and PD. The authors highlighted five aspects to enable 'safe spaces' with YFMs.…”

“…'Safe spaces' have been discussed in several disciplines, particularly in education and participatory research (PR) (Bergold and Thomas, 2012). In Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), previous work has discussed the importance of 'safe spaces/environments' when working in participatory processes with diverse communities (Bustamante Duarte et al, 2018;McNally, Mauriello, et al, 2017;Hardy et al, 2016;Gram-Hansen and Ryberg, 2016;Jorge, 2001). However, limited reflections are available on the role, characteristics, and the potential impact of these spaces when working with young forced migrants.…”