Dilemmas in Coopertive Design

Abstract

The Scandinavian tradition of systems development has a long tradition of involving end users within a cooperative and egalitarian perspective. Initially, Marxist perpectives formed an important point of departure in understanding questions of empowerment and involvement of workers. Over the years, other theoretical approaches have informed the practice of cooperative design, but without a reassessment of how issues of power and empowerment are understood. What is empowerment? Who gives it, who gets it? What is power? I'll address these questions from a feminist perspective and from my own experience of cooperative design projects.