Experiences in Reflective Engineering Practice: Co-Development of Product Prototypes

Abstract

The experiences of a commercial engineering project team in a participatory product development project are described. The project differs from other Participatory Design projects in several ways. First, customers and engineers are brought together actually to develop and evaluate a product prototype. Second, this collaborative effort is aimed at satisfying the customer's need and exploring a market. Third, the engineering team is deliberately engaged in improving their own engineering process. Two themes are explored in this paper. One is that participatory development changes engineering work process and organization in significant ways. In particular, the scope of engineering work is extended to encompass observation and understanding of social effects of technology. The second is that these changes in engineering work ways require reflection on process and method. The paper itself is an exercise in reflective engineering practice.