Short answer
When designing with or for underserved communities, prioritize building trust, ensuring accessibility, and being acutely aware of the potential for unintended negative consequences, adapting participatory methods accordingly.
- Field
- User-Centred Design
- Source
- Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (2019)
- Method
- Qualitative research, specifically community-based participatory design (PD) workshops.
- Evidence
- Moderate effect
While participatory design (PD) aims to democratize innovation, its application in community workshops with underserved populations reveals challenges related to historical context, access, material perception, and the risk of unintentional harm, necessitating a more equitable approach. This user-centred design research insight is drawn from a 2019 study published in Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. Using Qualitative research, specifically community-based participatory design (pd) workshops., researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: When designing with or for underserved communities, prioritize building trust, ensuring accessibility, and being acutely aware of the potential for unintended negative consequences, adapting participatory methods accordingly.
Community-based participatory design can amplify underserved voices but requires careful consideration of context and potential harm.
While participatory design (PD) aims to democratize innovation, its application in community workshops with underserved populations reveals challenges related to historical context, access, material perception, and the risk of unintentional harm, necessitating a more equitable approach.
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · 2019
Key Findings
- 01The traditional PD workshop can be an affluent and privileged activity that neglects the challenges faced by underserved populations.
- 02Key areas of tension include the historical context of the research environment, community access, perceptions of materials and activities, and the potential for unintentional harm when collecting personal narratives.
Application
Design takeaway
When designing with or for underserved communities, prioritize building trust, ensuring accessibility, and being acutely aware of the potential for unintended negative consequences, adapting participatory methods accordingly.
How to apply
Before initiating any user research or co-design activities with a community, conduct thorough background research on the community's history, existing power structures, and potential sensitivities. Adapt your chosen methods to be culturally relevant and accessible.
Project actions
- 01When planning user research, think about who might be excluded by your chosen methods and why.
- 02Consider how your own background and assumptions might influence your interactions with users.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Focuses on a critical, often overlooked aspect of participatory design.
- +Provides actionable insights for creating more equitable design practices.
Limitations
My chosen user group might have specific cultural norms or historical experiences that I haven't fully accounted for, potentially affecting their responses or my interpretation.
Reliability & validity
The study's validity is strengthened by its grounding in real-world community workshops and its focus on critical tensions. Reliability might be a concern due to the qualitative nature and the specific context of the U.S. underserved populations studied, making direct replication challenging without adaptation.
Think critically
How can designers proactively identify and mitigate the risk of unintentional harm when engaging with communities that have a history of being marginalized or exploited by research initiatives?
Design Principles
"Equitable participatory design requires deep contextual understanding and proactive mitigation of potential harm."
This research highlights that user-centered design is not a one-size-fits-all methodology. Designers must critically examine the socio-cultural and historical context of their target users to ensure that design processes are truly inclusive and avoid perpetuating existing inequalities.
What This Means for Your Design
Just because you want to involve people in designing something doesn't mean your way of involving them is fair or helpful. You need to understand their background and be careful not to cause problems.
How to use in your project
- 1.Use this insight to justify your choice of user research methods, explaining why a standard approach might not be suitable for your target user group and how you adapted your methods for greater equity.
- 2.In your analysis of user needs, discuss how historical context or community access might influence their requirements or their willingness to participate.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
Paragraph starter
This study highlights the critical need for equitable participatory design, emphasizing that standard workshop formats can inadvertently exclude underserved populations. Designers must therefore conduct thorough contextual research, adapt methodologies to be culturally relevant and accessible, and proactively address potential harms, such as the unintentional collection of sensitive personal narratives, to ensure genuine user empowerment and avoid perpetuating existing inequalities.
Source
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
Deconstructing Community-Based Collaborative Design
journal · 2019
View sourceQuestions About This Research
- What does the research say about community-based participatory design can amplify underserved voices but requires careful consideration of context and potential harm?
- When designing with or for underserved communities, prioritize building trust, ensuring accessibility, and being acutely aware of the potential for unintended negative consequences, adapting participatory methods accordingly. Evidence: Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (2019).
- Why does "Community-based participatory design can amplify underserved voices but requires careful consideration of context and potential harm." matter for design?
- This research highlights that user-centered design is not a one-size-fits-all methodology. Designers must critically examine the socio-cultural and historical context of their target users to ensure that design processes are truly inclusive and avoid perpetuating existing inequalities.
- How can designers apply this research?
- When designing with or for underserved communities, prioritize building trust, ensuring accessibility, and being acutely aware of the potential for unintended negative consequences, adapting participatory methods accordingly.
- What were the main findings?
- The traditional PD workshop can be an affluent and privileged activity that neglects the challenges faced by underserved populations.. Key areas of tension include the historical context of the research environment, community access, perceptions of materials and activities, and the potential for unintentional harm when collecting personal narratives.
- What research method was used?
- Qualitative research, specifically community-based participatory design (PD) workshops..
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Moderate effect, based on a 2019 journal from Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction.
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- Before initiating any user research or co-design activities with a community, conduct thorough background research on the community's history, existing power structures, and potential sensitivities. Adapt your chosen methods to be culturally relevant and accessible.
- What are the limitations?
- The study focused on specific underserved populations in the U.S., and findings may not be universally generalizable to all underserved communities or global contexts.