Class+Presentation

Information and ideas for the presentation could be added here

Specs:

-Distribute handouts w. key points from our presentation to each student and professor -e-mail our slides to Karen -engage the class (i.e. ask them questions, do an activity, play a game, design something?) - states objectives of the presentation on the first slide - have a reference page last slide, cite cite cite!!!

=__Structure of Presentation:__= =- Handouts w. key points (Darya)= =-Objectives of the presentation (Mo)=

- Participatory design is used in order to involve end users of a new solution or invention in its creation so as to make this invention easier to use and adapt to. - PD is also used so that designers and technology developers create products that fit into the user’s lifestyle or work routine. At times the designer cannot fully envision the use of a new product in every single scenario that the end-user would make use of it. By involving the end users as co-creators, it decreases the likelihood of a product being unable to fully meet their needs. - At times, new technology could seem daunting to end-users. In designing technological solutions, PD can provide opportunities to discover new pleasures, new forms of sociability, and new cultural forms thus shifting current perceptions of technology functionally, aesthetically, culturally, and even politically. - Participation in decision could stir a design process in many different positive directions that the designer would ordinarily not have implemented. It creates room for alternative technical and/or organizational collective change. - PD provides designers with direct access to workers skills and experiences. =- Definition of Participatory design (Darya)= =- History of PD (Mohammed)= =- How PD relates to Politics & democracy (Mo and Darya)=
 * __Objectives of participatory design__**
 * History of PD**
 * 1) It all started In the 1960’s in Australia when sentiments rose in the community saying that they were not planned ‘for’ but planned ‘at’.
 * 2) Britain in 1965, an idea was raised up saying that the public should participate in the planning system.
 * 3) Although because of the ideas raised and people questioning public hearing and workshops was introduced to settle down this new voice, but this was merel y just exchange of information rather than a proper participatory act.
 * 4) Later during the 70’s Scandanavia is the place where research began on user participation and at the time was known as ‘Co-operative Design’. It had a collective resource approach which developed strategies for workers to influence the design of computer applications.
 * 5) When the word Co=operative Design was introduced in America it wasn’t very popular as co-operative meant working face-to face and this didn’t suit the management, hence the word ‘Participatory Design was coined.
 * 6) Later famous project of Participatory design included the Norwegian Iron and Metal Works Union in 1970’s.
 * 7) The Utopia Project and the Florence Project worked with nurses in the 1980’s.
 * 8) In the 1990’s there was the AT project and Euro Code Project.
 * 9) In recent years technology has brought a new face as now no isolated system is developed in communities.
 * 10) Even today in Scandinavia Participatory Design is prominent in industrial project and famous projects like CID in RIT.

- PD started off as a political/ social movement in Norway. PD began as a strategy to rebalance the power in the workplace from being solely in the hands of management to the workers. - Participatory design entails collaborative partnerships and co-construction of knowledge in analysis and co-construction of changes in social practices. Everyone gets a chance to voice their opinion even if they are not technology experts. - Scandinavian Participatory design was the first to be rooted in deep commitments to democracy and democratization (Darya’s article) - DEMOCRACY AND DEMOCRATIZATION: The participatory design movements in Scandinavia have their roots in post-war political movements striving for industrial democracy including forms of co-determination by unions and `shopfloor' workers in decision making and efforts to improve the quality of working life, in the broad context of democratisation of society. - discussions of values in design and imagined futures - how conflict and contradictions are regarded as resources in design - PD is used in a variety of Government fields e.g. [|software design], [|urban design] , [|architecture] , [|sustainability] , or even [|medicine] as a way of creating environments that are more responsive and appropriate to their inhabitants' and users' practical needs.
 * __Relation to Politics & Democracy__**
 * Add more of Darya’s points here**

=- Drawbacks of PD & how to mediate them (Mo)=

- PD could face problems in scenarios where computer systems are being developed. Non-technically inclined participants might not be able to communicate properly with the developers. - An example of a problem where end users were unable to properly communicate their ideas in the design process was with the VozMob project, a joint project by the University of Southern California to create a mobile blogging platform to serve immigrant workers in southern California. The project incorporated a core group of 8 community members into the design process. They also acted as facilitators by bringing other members of the project as it grew. - However, their participation in many of the computer-mediated processes was hampered by issues of access and different knowledge and skills levels. As a result, it was difficult for community members to communicate directly with the platform developers (Source – MIT Center for civic media - [])
 * __Drawbacks of PD__**

__How to mediate the drawbacks__

=- Best PD practises (Mohammed and Darya)= =- References page (Darya)=
 * Successful PD**
 * 1) Organizations such as Project for Public Spaces has created a platform known as Place Performance Evaluation or Place Game. Groups are taken from community based on the project and people who would be affected by it or are end users, they are engaged in developing design strategies which would benefit the community
 * 2) Melbourne Australia is one city where politics and democracy has led to participatory design become a part of the law or rule in the city's development.
 * 3) St Kilda in the Talbot Reserve which is in Melbourne, faced numerous problems of how it was mis-used. For one it became a spot for sex workers and drug addicts. To deal with this a project was formed in which variety of the community members were brought together and asked as to what they wanted for the future of the reserve. This helped traditionally marginalised voices to participate and many said it was ‘a transforming experience as they saw the world through different eyes.’ (Press, 2003, p. 62)
 * 4) Participatory Projects have also been famous in a construction environment. Again in the city of Melbourne redevelopment projects require community consultation  and involvement in the planning. For example the Swanton Street project had 5000 responses from the public on choosing from the 7 different design proposal.
 * 5) Also in the city of Yarra a campaign was held ‘Stories in the Street’, this helped record peoples ideas for the future of Smith Street and it helped people explore the mapping, photo surveys etc to decide the future of the street.
 * 6) In Portland, Oregan, city repairing is a participatory design project which doesn’t involve the government but runs on volunteers and their successful projects have included intersection repair which was developed into a community square.
 * 7) Another success story of PD includes the design solutions for Vancouver’s downtown eastside which was suffering from drug and alchohol abuse. The UN, Global Studio involved students from Columbia University, University of Sydney and University of Rome to provide design solutions, this brought together various expertise from various fields like architecture, planners etc. this led to a dynamic design and sharing of ideas.
 * (Mohammed)**