Creating conditions for participation: Conflicts and resources in systems design

Abstract

User participation in design is a well recognized way of gaining more knowledge about work, and of improving the quality of the computer application to be designed. Yet many experiences with user participation were gained under circumstances quite different from those of corporations in the 1990's-in the Scandinavian collective resource projects. This paper will argue that a lot can still be learned from these projects, in particular when it comes to the creation of conditions for participation. The paper will present a recent project, the AT project, in order to discuss the concerns and conditions of participatory design projects today. This discussion seeks inspiration also in philosophical concerns regarding human development. The main message is that we shouldn't throw out the baby with the bath water, though certainly many aspects need to be rethought. The paper goes on to suggest that new alliances between groups in organizations, with due concern for their diversity of resources, and with constructive use of the conflicts inherent in the organization despite their fundamentally conflicting interests, may be a way forward in empowering organizations, making room for groups and individuals within them to act. The paper discusses experiences with ways of setting up design activities in such an environment.