Participatory+Design

=Participatory Design= toc



Definition
This is a design process (workshop) in which end users (people who use the product or service), developers, and business representitives work together to craft a solution. The solution must be usable and meet the needs of both the company and the users.

History
Participatory design began in the early 1970’s in Scandinavia and Germany to create a “collective resource approach” and debate about the place of industrial democracy in modern workplaces. They wanted workers to influence the design and usability of workplace computing. This allowed both workers and developers to work in friendly fashion and wield benefits that were beneficial to both sides. The developers found impressive results while the workers found rewards in being able to help developing the project using their own individual experiences.

Stages of Design
Participatory Design usually occurs in three stages:
 * 1) Discovery
 * 2) Evaluation
 * 3) Prototyping

In the discovery stage, the researcher or designer "gains the trust of the participants, explores their working practices, and studies their goals, values, and needs" (//Houston)//. In the evaluation stage, designers have to explore different tools/technologies for the design, and realize the strength and weaknesses of the design. Afterwards, commentary is encouraged to the users about positive experiences with similar artefacts. Lastly, in the prototyping stage, users and researchers brainstorm together about ideas, concepts, and other uses that the design can have. When that is finished, the product is built and then evaluated until it is finally approved to become the final product.

Differences between User-centred Design
Participatory design is simliar to user-centred design but are different in some fundamental ways. They are both similar in the fact that they both deal with end users within their design. However, during participatory design process, users are fully allowed to collaborate with all aspects of the design while in user-centred design process, the users have limited power and are only consulted, not given decision power. For example, wikipedia allows users to put up information but only lets a few users are allowed to change the aspects of the site.

Drawbacks to Participatory Design
One of the drawbacks in design is that users are not always available for taking part in the design process. Sometimes they are busy or that the amount of time they spend on the design process may take longer than they would realistically like. Because sometimes the process is too long, users may become uninterested in and tired of the project. Another drawback is a socio-psychological factor where people whose ideas are rejected may cause the user to lose their confidence and may not be willing to participate as much as they have the potential to. However, these drawbacks are mostly for large design projects (Waller).

Conclusion
Participatory design works because end users and designers retain close collaboration. When they use evaluation techniques, the joint effort will eventually give birth to reliable, efficient and effective prototypes and eventually move onto a final and complete design. Working together creates a trusted environment and hopefully generates excellent results in the end.