Brave and Kind Superheroes – Children's Reflections on the Design Protagonist Role

Abstract

A design protagonist role for children has recently gained attention in political participatory design, with the aim of reframing the position of a child in relation to technology. However, the concept and the characteristics of the design protagonist remain quite vague still. We conducted a “My Superhero” design project with 13-14-year-old schoolchildren, giving them a voice, nurturing their agency, and inviting them to reflect on their design experiences and the notion of the design protagonist. The findings show the children spontaneously adopted different roles, also the design protagonist role, in the design process without us intentionally guiding them towards those. The findings reveal children's views on the characteristics of a design protagonist and their perceptions of their own characteristics and learning within the design process. Several factors mediating children's adoption of the protagonist role, including context, personal interest, empathy, prior joint experience, adults’ role, self-learning, and soft skills, were discovered.