Design participation tactics: the challenges and new roles for designers in the co-design process

TLDR

Design Participation was first introduced at the 1971 Design Research Society conference. The study aims to redefine user participation in design by proposing new designer roles—developer, facilitator, and generator—to address neglected aesthetic quality and collaborative relationships, and to prevent tokenism. The authors reflect on action‑research projects and use concrete case studies to illustrate the evolving theory of design participation.

Abstract

This paper seeks to redefine 'user participation in design' and to articulate new roles for designers in order to transform design processes. The term 'Design Participation' was introduced in the 1971 Design Research Society conference. The main focus of this paper is to suggest ways to tackle three areas that have been neglected over 30 years of Design Participation development, namely: the aesthetic quality of design practice, the collaborative relationship of design research and participatory design thinking. The paper is a reflection by a professional designer developed through the experience of working with different groups in action research projects and these concrete case studies are used to illustrate the developing theory. Three areas of challenges were identified and the overall aim was to facilitate innovative collaboration and create platforms for social inclusion in design practice. Addressing these challenges, it is essential to reconsider the roles of designers (design developer, facilitator and generator) in order to achieve user participation in design. However, in order to avoid tokenism, the most important thing is to practice these roles as tactics of Design Participation.