Abstract
This paper explores the role of design when participatory design intervenes more deeply in decision- making processes of local policy making. In the domain where design and public policy share common interests, participatory design has been considered effective as a better policy making approach adapted to complex contexts, particularly with municipalities. However, the process from organizations' understanding of participatory design legitimacy to design's involvement in deeper levels of decision-making involves many unpredictable barriers and often takes a long time. Particularly in the front-end phase before setting policy design criteria, unstable relationships exist between designers and policymakers, appearing as conflicts and anxieties among stakeholders. This paper traces a case study of a participatory design project at the stage when the policy cycle begins. The project unfolded between a Japanese municipality facing fiscal sustainability challenges and a young citizen group seeking to participate in public decision-making. Through a sequence of observed events and stakeholder reflections, this paper identifies possibilities and barriers existing in the process until participatory design converges with municipal policy making processes. Finally, we explain the effectiveness of participatory design as relational infra structuring in collaborative agenda-setting phases, and discuss elements for promoting long-term changes in participatory systems.
Keywords
Relational infrastructuring; Design for policy; Participatory design; Agenda setting
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.1197
Citation
Okamoto, S.,and Mizuno, D.(2025) Design when Policy Cycle Begins: Participatory Design as Relational Infrastructuring for Local Policy, in Chang, C.-Y., and Hsu, Y. (eds.), IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.1197
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 7 - Service Design for Public Services and Policies
Design when Policy Cycle Begins: Participatory Design as Relational Infrastructuring for Local Policy
This paper explores the role of design when participatory design intervenes more deeply in decision- making processes of local policy making. In the domain where design and public policy share common interests, participatory design has been considered effective as a better policy making approach adapted to complex contexts, particularly with municipalities. However, the process from organizations' understanding of participatory design legitimacy to design's involvement in deeper levels of decision-making involves many unpredictable barriers and often takes a long time. Particularly in the front-end phase before setting policy design criteria, unstable relationships exist between designers and policymakers, appearing as conflicts and anxieties among stakeholders. This paper traces a case study of a participatory design project at the stage when the policy cycle begins. The project unfolded between a Japanese municipality facing fiscal sustainability challenges and a young citizen group seeking to participate in public decision-making. Through a sequence of observed events and stakeholder reflections, this paper identifies possibilities and barriers existing in the process until participatory design converges with municipal policy making processes. Finally, we explain the effectiveness of participatory design as relational infra structuring in collaborative agenda-setting phases, and discuss elements for promoting long-term changes in participatory systems.