Jennifer Briselli Managing Director, Experience Design

@jbriselli jbriselli@madpow.com

Participatory DesignEngaging your audience directly in the design process

What is Participatory Design? Why might you use these this approach in your own practice as educators or designers? What are some methods and activities, and how do you choose when to use what activities? What does it look like?

Overview

What it is: An approach to design that invites all stakeholders (e.g. end users, employees, partners, customers, citizens, consumers, teachers, students) into the design process as a means of better understanding, meeting, and sometimes preempting their needs. What it is not: A way to make your users do your job for you A single prescriptive method or tool A rigidly defined process

(see also: co-design, co-creation, co-production, collaborative design)

What is Participatory Design?

Design Process

Image: Bruce Hanington

Design Methods

Participatory design methods, especially generative or making activities, provide a design language for non designers (future users) to imagine and express their own ideas for how they want to live, work, and play in the future. (Sanders 1999) In other words: it leads to better designs & outcomes

Why its useful

Generative methods uncover latent needs.

Image: Liz Sanders

Framing: Identifying goals, objective, key questions or hypotheses Planning: Choosing/creating activities that help answer or define these goals Facilitating: Ensuring that participation is valuable & productive Analyzing: Making sense of it to identify actionable insights

How to do it

Users Challenges & Goals Questions Assumptions & Hypotheses

Framing

Where: office, school, home, outdoors Who & how many: large group, small group, individual Observation methods: notes, video, photo, artifacts Materials: depends on activities

Planning the activities

Be prepared Be yourself Be flexible & adaptive Be reflective Be warm & friendly

Facilitating the activities

Cull: cut irrelevant or incomplete information Normalize: get everything into a common format excel, transcripts, grids, post-its Review: follow your instinct analysis is as much art as science. Document: for your own and others benefit!

Analyzing the outcomes

Analysis

Image: Frog

Three general categories Narrate: Participants help us understand their needs via storytelling Create: Participants generate ideas and create prototypes of products, services, or experiences (these can be very realistic or completely unrealistic) Sometimes users help create the actual, real solutions well develop Sometimes users create fantasy items that give designers more direction Prioritize: Participants make connections and judgments that help us understand the value of potential design solutions

Choosing activities & methods

Telling stories helps participants express more detailed and emotionally resonant experiences. These activites are intended to elicit memories and help build empathy and understanding. Examples: Journey mapping Love letter/breakup letter Collaging Empathy mapping Knowledge hunting

Narrate activities

Participants can provide a lot of insight when provided tools and opportunities to design without constraints or expectations. Examples: Magic screen/button/object Interface toolkit Physical prototyping Fill in the blank Ideal workflow Ecosystem mapping

Create activities

These activities help participants and designers evaluate and understand the value of existing experiences or potential future design solutions. Examples: Card sorting Channel sorting Value ranking Storyboard/narrative Bodystorming/gamestorming

Prioritize activities

Framing: Identify goals/challenges & create prompts for participants Planning: Well try three activities today: Love letter/breakup letter Collage Magic object Facilitating: Take turns making/observing/sharing Analyzing: (not today) Wrap up: Sharing & discussion

Lets try it

First,

Lets identify some goals or challenges

(then well form groups)

Next,

Lets plan the activities

Love letter/breakup letterThis method provides insights about perceptions by eliciting feelings of appreciation, frustration, or aversion based on past experiences. How: Participants are asked to spend 5-10 minutes writing a love letter, breakup letter, or combination, to an organization, object, or other entity. Participants are encouraged to be completely honest, think of past experiences as they write, and write from the heart. Participants are then asked to read their letters out loud. Materials: paper, writing utensils

CollageThis activity helps members express their experiences and needs in a way words can sometimes fail to describe. Participants will also put themselves at the center of the map, which allows us to understand how members conceive of their own agency (or lack thereof How: Participants are provided a prompt and asked to spend 20-30 minutes creating a collage that describes their feelings about the prompt. Participants are then asked to share and discuss their collage. Facilitators may ask participants to elaborate to better elucidate examples and opportunities. Materials: paper, images, glue sticks, writing utensils, post-its,

Magic ObjectProviding members with materials that allow them to engage in a making process can provide insights about potential design solutions as well as uncover latent needs. How: Participants are provided building materials and a prompt, and asked to spend 20-30 minutes creating the objects. Participants are then asked to share and briefly discuss their creations. Facilitators may ask members to elaborate on aspects of their explanation where appropriate to elucidate examples and opportunities. Materials: Paper, images, glue sticks, writing utensils, post-its,

In groups: Create a prompt for each of the activities: Activity 1: Love letter/breakup letter Ex: Write a love letter or break up letter to your desk chair. Activity 2: Collage Ex: What does the health care landscape look like to you right now? Activity 3: Magic Object Ex: Use the items provided to create any kind of tool, service, or magic button that would make the classroom experience better for you.

Now,

Lets try the activities

Love letter/breakup letter (10 min)This method provides insights about perceptions by eliciting feelings of appreciation, frustration, or aversion based on past experiences. How: Participants are asked to spend 5-10 minutes writing a love letter, breakup letter, or combination, to an organization, object, or other entity. Participants are encouraged to be completely honest, think of past experiences as they write, and write from the heart. Participants are then asked to read their letters out loud. Materials: paper, writing utensils

Collage (15 min)This activity helps members express their experiences and needs in a way words can sometimes fail to describe. Participants will also put themselves at the center of the map, which allows us to understand how members conceive of their own agency (or lack thereof How: Participants are provided a prompt and asked to spend 20-30 minutes creating a collage that describes their feelings about the prompt. Participants are then asked to share and discuss their collage. Facilitators may ask participants to elaborate to better elucidate examples and opportunities. Materials: paper, images, glue sticks, writing utensils, post-its,

Magic Object (20 min)Providing members with materials that allow them to engage in a making process can provide insights about potential design solutions as well as uncover latent needs. How: Participants are provided building materials and a prompt, and asked to spend 20-30 minutes creating the objects. Participants are then asked to share and briefly discuss their creations. Facilitators may ask members to elaborate on aspects of their explanation where appropriate to elucidate examples and opportunities. Materials: Paper, images, glue sticks, writing utensils, post-its,

Discussion

What did you think about as a participant?

What did you see/hear/think while observing others as participants?