Participatory Design in a Commercial Context - a conceptual framework (original) (raw)
Related papers
Participatory IT Design ‑ an exemplary case
2000
We address IT design and provides examples of how to design solutions based upon participatory design techniques and ethnographically inspired analysis within a full‑scale design project. The case exemplifies an ambitious yet realistic design practice that provides a sound basis for organisational decision making and for technical and organizational development and implementation. We focus on cooperative aspects of the work
Revealing the Socio-Technical Context of Design Settings: Toward Participatory IS Design
International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 2013
This research proposes a participatory sociotechnical design approach to making explicit issues in collaborative information system design in a multidisciplinary context. The approach proposes the Socio-Technical Evaluation (STE) Matrix as a conceptual tool to address the lack of a technical and methodological instrument to expose cultural differences, boundaries, and conflicts in multidisciplinary research. STE Matrix was born within the context of the Village eScience for Life (VeSeL) project and adopts an empirical sociotechnical experimentation to initially explore the context of the stakeholders, including that of the end-users. These contexts are then revisited through information system design theories to rationalize the STE Matrix paradigm. Subsequent experiments and exposure to communities of practice provide validity to the approach by revealing the different frames of interpretation within the VeSeL project. Furthermore, STE Matrix provided a platform to truly observe participatory design by equally involving end-users and design partners in the subsequent phases of the VeSeL project.
Participatory Design (PD) methods have traditionally been oriented towards small, local workplaces with homogeneous user groups and thereby on a subset of IT applications. This study presents a renewed PD framework suited to the context of large organisations and the design of comprehensive IS, using design data from an IT project in the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and the participative design of an information system for all its 225 000 trade union shop stewards. The framework was developed in response to six major obstacles for success in PD projects, identified by participatory action research methods.
Disregarding History: Contemporary IS Contexts and Participatory Design
User participation has long been seen as a core topic of study within the IS field, yet its relevance to contemporary development environments and contexts has recently been brought into question. The aim of this article is to investigate the extent to which this rich history and experience is used to inform contemporary practices. We provide a survey that evaluates the degree to which PD (participatory design) is currently represented in the IS literature, the results of which reveal a low representation. Based on these findings, a number of propositions are offered.
The impact of participation in information system design (a comparison of contextual placements)
Proceedings of the Eighth Conference on Participatory Design Artful Integration Interweaving Media Materials and Practices Volume 1, 2004
To compare the outcomes of participatory and user-centered contextual design, case study methods and the Activity Checklist derived from Activity Theory are used to analyze two system prototypes developed in the same organizational setting. Systematic differences between the prototypes are identified regarding focus on tool, organization, individual, and relation to current power structures and organizational practices. The resulting participatory design prototype reflected a sharper focus on collective use, social processes and to pragmatically fit into the organization whereas the user-centered prototype focused on individual use, the computer system and solutions that require substantial changes in work procedures. The differences between the prototypes are discussed and related to the specific aspects of the design methods.
2006
This paper reports on a project establishment undertaking as proposed by the STEPS methodology (Software Technology for Evolutionary Participatory System Design). Project establishment in STEPS is aimed at getting an inner understanding of a project's environment. This understanding spans getting insights about the user environment, establishing a project team and ends with an initial proposal of the next steps as proposed by STEPS. We describe the methodology we applied: sustained individual and group interactions with the staff at the hospital informed by concepts of participation, collaboration and Joint Applications Design. By reflecting on selected instances of our engagement with the hospital staff, we report as findings the observations that before our project ideas can get ground, there are preliminary reviews and concerns (auxiliary to the central theme of participation) that need to be addressed. They touch on tools, processes and the prevailing organizational culture. The task at hand evolved to be that of cultivating a 'participatory culture' on the hospital staff. At the end of the paper we present an outlook from our project establishment experience. We argue that our experiences as described in the paper inform our next steps. We frame our experiences into literature on: a) Power distance dimension in describing national cultures, b) empowerment and democracy in the practice of participatory design and c) incremental system development that proceeds from first defining a core system.
Participatory IT Design. Designing for Business and Workplace Realities. MIT press.
Bødker, K., F. Kensing and J. Simonsen (2004). Participatory IT Design. Designing for Business and Workplace Realities. MIT press., 2004
A state-of-the-art method for introducing new information technology systems into an organization, illustrated by case studies drawn from a ten-year research project. The goal of participatory IT design is to set sensible, general, and workable guidelines for the introduction of new information technology systems into an organization. Reflecting the latest systems-development research, this book encourages a business-oriented and socially sensitive approach that takes into consideration the specific organizational context as well as first-hand knowledge of users' work practices and allows all stakeholders—users, management, and staff—to participate in the process. Participatory IT Design is a guide to the theory and practice of this process that can be used as a reference work by IT professionals and as a textbook for classes in information technology at introductory through advanced levels. Drawing on the work of a ten-year research program in which the authors worked with Danish and American companies, the book offers a framework for carrying out IT design projects as well as case studies that stand as examples of the process. The method presented in Participatory IT Design—known as the MUST method, after a Danish acronym for theories and methods of initial analysis and design activities—was developed and tested in thirteen industrial design projects for companies and organizations that included an American airline, a multinational pharmaceutical company, a national broadcasting corporation, a multinational software house, and American and Danish universities. The first part of the book introduces the concepts and guidelines on which the method is based, while the second and third parts are designed as a practical toolbox for utilizing the MUST method. Part II describes the four phases of a design project—initiation, in-line analysis, in-depth analysis, and innovation. Part III explains the method's sixteen techniques and related representation tools, offering first an overview and then specific descriptions of each in separate sections.
2004
Participatory Design (PD) methods have traditionally been oriented towards small, local workplaces with homogeneous user groups and thereby on a subset of IT applications. This study presents a renewed PD framework suited to the context of large organisations and the design of comprehensive IS, using design data from an IT project in the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and the participative design of an information system for all its 225 000 trade union shop stewards. The framework was developed in response to six major obstacles for success in PD projects, identified by participatory action research methods.