research-article

Evaluation in participatory design: a literature survey

Authors:

Christian Dindler,

Ole Sejer IversenAuthors Info & Claims

PDC '16: Proceedings of the 14th Participatory Design Conference: Full papers - Volume 1

Pages 151 - 160

https://doi.org/10.1145/2940299.2940303

Published: 15 August 2016 Publication History

Abstract

This paper focuses on evaluation in Participatory Design (PD), and especially upon how the central aims of mutual learning, empowerment, democracy and workplace quality have been assessed. We surveyed all Participatory Design Conference papers (1990-2014) and papers from special journal issues on PD, focusing on systematic, explicit evaluations. The survey resulted in 143 papers of which 66 were deemed relevant. Of these, 17 papers deal with evaluation of the above mentioned aims. Based on evaluation theory, we propose seven key questions through which to characterize evaluations in PD and analyze the 17 papers. Our analysis reveals that formal evaluations of PD's aims are rare; generally lack details on methods; are researcher- and not participant-led, and that a corpus of work around evaluations needs to be developed. We suggest more explicit, systematic evaluations of PD's central aims to enhance accountability, learning and knowledge building, and to strengthen PD internally and externally.

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Index Terms

Evaluation in participatory design: a literature survey
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Interaction design
    1. Interaction design process and methods
      1. Participatory design

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cover image ACM Other conferences

PDC '16: Proceedings of the 14th Participatory Design Conference: Full papers - Volume 1

August 2016

192 pages

ISBN:9781450340465

DOI:10.1145/2940299

Editors:
Claus Bossen
Aarhus Universitet, Denmark
,
Rachel Charlotte Smith
Aarhus Universitet, Denmark
,
Anne Marie Kanstrup
E-learning lab, Department of Communication and Psychology, The Faculty of Humanities, Aalborg University
,
Janet McDonnell
University of the Arts London, UK
,
Maurizio Teli
Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute, Funchal, Portugal
,
Keld Bødker
Roskilde Universitetscenter, Denmark

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Published: 15 August 2016

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PDC '16: The 14th Participatory Design Conference

August 15 - 19, 2016

Aarhus, Denmark

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https://doi.org/10.17645/up.9133
Bamford JMoschini E(2025)Co-creation of connected and relational learning spaces: a digital and gamified approach in higher educationHigher Education Research & Development10.1080/07294360.2024.242944344:1(205-221)Online publication date: 29-Jan-2025
https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2024.2429443
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https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2024.103405
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