8. Participatory Design

Over the last three decades, participatory design research has reached maturity with a number of studies reported and a variety of methods developed and tested. This chapter has two goals. First, it is aimed at showing that there is more to be done in participatory design research. Stakeholders not only participate in design but also transform themselves through design. They start to see the world differently and design a technology in new ways. This complex participation process has been glossed over. Despite the plethora of research that has been done, we have yet to comprehend stakeholder participation fully. Second, it seeks to point out that participatory design is needed for a broader range of technology development, particularly upstream research. Whereas participatory design has been discussed in the context of downstream development of information systems and consumer products, it has become important for upstream research, which tends to be removed from the field in which the technologies will be used. Through these arguments, more research is called for in participatory design.