[IxDA Discuss] Participatory Design

[Gretchen Anderson]

On 25 Jan 2007, at 16:26, Robert Hoekman, Jr. wrote:
[snip]
> I agree. The problem with committee situations is that...

One way to look at this is not as "design by committee" but rather
design research that involves people using a variety of methods to
comment on design concpets and extend them. I've never seen it as a
replacement for the good ol' design process, just an input. 

PD gives you a different kind of insight than when you show concepts to
focus groups or individuals. Not necessarily better, just different.
Especially effective when working with kids or in highly-specialized
domains where simply giving reactions a voice over is limiting. I've
found kids and teens to be reluctant/not used to giving opinions. This
gives them a way to "warm up". 

Similarly, in highly specialized domains it gives subject matter experts
tools to communicate their arcania at a time when you might not have
enough shared vocabulary. 

That said you still want a really good moderator/facilitator to address
the "group think" issues raised by Robert and Adrian.