Participatory design and participatory development: a comparative review

This paper examines literature in the twin domains of participatory interactive systems design and participatory approaches to international development. As interactive systems are increasingly promoted as a possible means of achieving international development goals, designers generally agree that participatory design approaches should be applied. However, review of the literature reveals that these two different traditions have more complex relationships, and questions must be asked about: the aims of participation, the forms of participation that are being advocated, and the skills and strategies required of practitioners. The findings suggest that successful integration of participatory interactive systems design into development will require careful reflection on the nature of development and the approaches adopted.</p

IDR : a participatory methodology for interdisciplinary design in technology enhanced learning

One of the important themes that emerged from the CAL’07 conference was the failure of technology to bring about the expected disruptive effect to learning and teaching. We identify one of the causes as an inherent weakness in prevalent development methodologies. While the problem of designing technology for learning is irreducibly multi-dimensional, design processes often lack true interdisciplinarity. To address this problem we present IDR, a participatory methodology for interdisciplinary techno-pedagogical design, drawing on the design patterns tradition (Alexander, Silverstein & Ishikawa, 1977) and the design research paradigm (DiSessa & Cobb, 2004). We discuss the iterative development and use of our methodology by a pan-European project team of educational researchers, software developers and teachers. We reflect on our experiences of the participatory nature of pattern design and discuss how, as a distributed team, we developed a set of over 120 design patterns, created using our freely available open source web toolkit. Furthermore, we detail how our methodology is applicable to the wider community through a workshop model, which has been run and iteratively refined at five major international conferences, involving over 200 participants

Participatory design and the humanist landscape [workshop]

This workshop (held in conjunction with the UBICOMP 2015: The 2015 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing and ISCW 2015: The 19th International Symposium on Wearable Computers) will bring together researchers and practitioners to reflect on the use of participatory design methods, especially in the context of design for wellbeing. Delegates will reflect both on the user experience of being part of such methods, and on the design team experience, in line with recent calls for reflexivity in HCI. The workshop will enable delegates to situate their practice in the broader co ntext of humanistic psychotherapy research, and implications for research methodologies and professional development will be discussed. Through a short series of talks, delegates will learn about attitudes and tools (specifically the Person Centred Approach and Interpersonal Process Recall) for reflection on team working and relational aspects of participatory design. The workshop will in turn contribute to the development of a person-centred framework for participatory and co-design research

The centre for internationalization and usability: enabling culture-centred design for all

The Centre for Internationalisation and Usability within the School of Computing and Technology at The University of West London aims to enhance understanding of cultural differences in international software development. A particular focus is the development and usability of ICT products in a global market, both in terms of international software development and economic, community and social development. We host a number of researchers and PhD students working in topics such as usability evaluation and culture, socio-technical participatory design, internationalization attitudes of software engineers, mobile learning and library cognitive design

Forms and Functions of Participatory Evaluation in International Development: A Review of the Empirical and Theoretical Literature

Background: Since the late 1970s participatory approaches have been widely promoted to evaluate international development programs. However, there is no universal agreement of what is meant by participatory evaluation.&nbsp; For some evaluators, participatory evaluations involve the extensive participation of all stakeholder groups (from donor to non-recipients) in every phase of the evaluation (from design to dissemination). For others, the participation of donors in the design constitutes a participatory evaluation approach. Participatory evaluation approaches are best considered on a continuum. In other words, there are many gradations to participation and evaluations should be classified accordingly.&nbsp; Purpose: The lack of shared meaning of participatory evaluation approaches also impedes serious discussion on their use including their merits and demerits, suggestions for their improvement, and their overall effectiveness. The purpose of this article is to present an examination of the literature on participatory evaluation approaches to highlight commonalities and differences. Setting: Not applicable Intervention: Not applicable. Research Design: Not applicable. Data Collection and Analysis: Desk review. Findings: This article clearly demonstrates how broadly participatory evaluation is conceptualized and practiced and underscores the clear need for specification and precision when discussing what is meant by participatory evaluation. Recommendations for how evaluators should describe participatory evaluations are provided. Keywords: participatory evaluation; collaborative evaluation; empowerment evaluation; stakeholder-based evaluatio

Limits of stakeholder participation in sustainable development : "where facts are few, experts are many"

Extract from: The Mediterranean coastal areas from watershed to the sea : interactions and changes / by L.F. Cassar ... [et al.]. Proceedings of the MEDCORE International conference, Florence, 10th-14th November 2005The notion of including stakeholders, those affected (positively or negatively) by a sustainable development programme in both its design and implementation, has become a central concern for those implementing such programmes. Such an approach is often referred to as ‘stakeholder participation’, as ‘participatory development’ or more simply still as ‘participation’. How best to achieve this has been the topic of a substantial literature, with a host of different methodologies presented and promoted. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, but there has been surprisingly little discussion in the sustainable development literature as to the limits and dangers of participation irrespective of the approach employed to ‘best’ facilitate it. Inter-linked with the limits of participation is the role of specialists and expert opinion in sustainable development. This paper discusses the results of participatory exercises conducted in Gozo (Malta) between 2003 and 2005. On the positive side, participation yielded many useful and interesting insights and invoked a sense of ‘involvement’ in sustainable development, but there were problems and these are discussed in this paper. For example, the outcome of the exercise crucially depends upon representation, and a simplified vision of ‘community’ often employed in participation to make it practicable can load the process in favour of certain stakeholder groups at the expense of others.peer-reviewe

Making Local Knowledge Visible: The case of the University for Business and Technology in Kosovo

A vision to further national development through higher education now informs planning for the University for Business and Technology Knowledge Center. At its essence, the Center aims to make local knowledge visible through furthering discovery of and access to research content produced by academic students and university professors on institutional, local and international levels. This paper reports on conceptual exploration of this institutional idea during spring semester 2017 in a graduate course on systems thinking and methodology. Using active learning pedagogy to improve local situations, an international teaching team facilitated student and stakeholder engagement in participatory design activities using soft systems methodology tools and techniques. Course evaluation outcomes revealed students\u27 improved levels of knowledge and development of insights. In addition, their course work demonstrated their advanced understanding of systems thinking and its application. Furthermore, students expressed high motivation to learn more about other human‐centred theories and participatory design tools. In considering the value of the University\u27s knowledge vision, they were especially enthusiastic about its implications for furthering national democratic development in Kosovo and regional economic growth in south‐eastern Europe

Building capacity in climate change policy analysis and negotiation: methods and technologies

Capacity building is often cited as the reason “we cannot just pour money into developing countries” and why so many development projects fail because their design does not address local conditions. It is therefore a key technical and political concept in international development. Some of the poorest countries in the world are also some of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Their vulnerability is in part due to a lack of capacity to plan and anticipate the effects of climate change on crops, water resources, urban electricity demand etc. What capacities do these countries lack to deal with climate change? How will they cope? What steps can they take to reduce their vulnerability? This innovative and high-profile research project was part of a larger project (called C3D) and conducted with non-governmental organisations in Senegal, South Africa and Sri Lanka. The research involved several participatory workshops and a questionnaire to all three research centres

Giving a Voice to the Powerless: Participatory Monitoring & Evaluation as a Tool for Inclusive Development through Microfinance

The greatest experts on the situation of the marginalized peoples of the world are the marginalized communities themselves. This paper explores how participatory monitoring & evaluation can be a powerful tool for giving voices to marginalized communities, ensuring that the voices of beneficiaries and local stakeholders are heard and inform sustainable project design. It analyzes a participatory monitoring and evaluation methodology implemented for women’s credit cooperatives in Gujarat, India by the Human Development & Research Centre, and examines lessons to be learned to design evaluations facilitating inclusive development. Strategies for the monitoring and evaluation of microfinance have evolved along with the microfinance industry itself. The choice of the design of evaluation frameworks has shaped the learning process used to design subsequent microfinance interventions. If the purpose of microfinance is inclusive development, then the voices of marginalized peoples meant to benefit from it must be included as part of the evaluation of microfinance interventions. Because of the complex and multifaceted nature of the issues that marginalized populations face, it is essential that international development reflect the perspectives of the people who are most intimately familiar with the intersection of these issues in a given local context: the local stakeholders themselves