Abstract
This paper reports the challenges of designers developing an SMS service for and with a vulnerable user group; homeless people; and their supporting agencies in London. It also describes the deployed methods in the design process. Co-design activities were performed with homeless people in and outside their living environments such as streets; a hostel and a day centre. The first author engaged with them as an insider (volunteer) or an outsider (designer or facilitator). This paper highlights how co-design activities in the inside and outside environments of a vulnerable user group affect the engagement of this group. Furthermore; the paper discusses ethical issues and the different roles (insider-outsider; volunteer-professional) designers are confronted with in this particular situation. We finally recommend designers to allow participants to share ownership of the project and carefully consider their capabilities of engagement.
Keywords
Service design; Co-design; Participatory design; Vulnerable user group; Homeless people
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/servdes2012.4
Citation
Kwon, O.,and van Boeijen, A.(2012) Co-designing an SMS service for London’s homeless people: Considerations for designers engaging with a vulnerable user group, in Tossavainen, P. J., Harjula, M., & Holmlid, S. (eds.), ServDes 2012: Co-Creating Services, 8–10 February, Espoo, Finland. https://doi.org/10.21606/servdes2012.4
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Research Papers
Co-designing an SMS service for London’s homeless people: Considerations for designers engaging with a vulnerable user group
This paper reports the challenges of designers developing an SMS service for and with a vulnerable user group; homeless people; and their supporting agencies in London. It also describes the deployed methods in the design process. Co-design activities were performed with homeless people in and outside their living environments such as streets; a hostel and a day centre. The first author engaged with them as an insider (volunteer) or an outsider (designer or facilitator). This paper highlights how co-design activities in the inside and outside environments of a vulnerable user group affect the engagement of this group. Furthermore; the paper discusses ethical issues and the different roles (insider-outsider; volunteer-professional) designers are confronted with in this particular situation. We finally recommend designers to allow participants to share ownership of the project and carefully consider their capabilities of engagement.