Abstract
The study of participatory design has been an active research field for several decades (Cross 1971; Sanoff 1973) an acknowledgement that direct involvement in the design and decision making of physical environments has a positive influence and that there is continued value, new insight and knowledge from its investigation. During this time there has been a maturation of the subject and subtle shifts in the field: recognising participatory design as a process with many approaches and techniques, rather than a particular research method and the flexibility of participatory methodologies. Sanoff's (2000) continued involvement and development of the field have shown that participatory design techniques can be used for different scales of project, different units for analysis, to design and develop communities as well as individual buildings. Sanoff's (1988) extensive research in this area stems from the methodological concept of action research (Lewin 1946) which integrates theory and practice. In this way the diversity of views expressed by people during the design decision-making process can influence the final outcome of a project. The democratic principle underpinning participatory design is demonstrated through the involvement of different users during design dialogues and their potential equal contribution to the design outcomes. The egalitarian, non-discriminatory principles of participatory design are common with an 'inclusive' approach for the design of environments: which should not discriminate on accessibility. This paper will draw on interview data gathered during conversations between an architect and the users of a future building to comment on the language used during the design dialogues and its effect on a participatory design process.
Citation
Luck, R. (2002) Dialogue in participatory design, in Durling, D. and Shackleton, J. (eds.), Common Ground - DRS International Conference 2002, 5-7 September, London, United Kingdom. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2002/researchpapers/52
Dialogue in participatory design
The study of participatory design has been an active research field for several decades (Cross 1971; Sanoff 1973) an acknowledgement that direct involvement in the design and decision making of physical environments has a positive influence and that there is continued value, new insight and knowledge from its investigation. During this time there has been a maturation of the subject and subtle shifts in the field: recognising participatory design as a process with many approaches and techniques, rather than a particular research method and the flexibility of participatory methodologies. Sanoff's (2000) continued involvement and development of the field have shown that participatory design techniques can be used for different scales of project, different units for analysis, to design and develop communities as well as individual buildings. Sanoff's (1988) extensive research in this area stems from the methodological concept of action research (Lewin 1946) which integrates theory and practice. In this way the diversity of views expressed by people during the design decision-making process can influence the final outcome of a project. The democratic principle underpinning participatory design is demonstrated through the involvement of different users during design dialogues and their potential equal contribution to the design outcomes. The egalitarian, non-discriminatory principles of participatory design are common with an 'inclusive' approach for the design of environments: which should not discriminate on accessibility. This paper will draw on interview data gathered during conversations between an architect and the users of a future building to comment on the language used during the design dialogues and its effect on a participatory design process.