1. Open design now
Creation & Co: User
participation in
design
Pieter Jan Stappers
Froukje Sleeswijk Visser
Sandra Kistemaker
Design Strategy (Ambient Media)
Presentation by Mariana Varela
3. The roles of the
designer, the client (or
producer, or
manufacturer) and the
user are being shaken
up in industrial
practices that have,
until now, been
oriented mainly
towards mass
production.
What is it about?
4. No-designers becoming
Yes-Designers
Some of the most Users
important ambitions of
Open Design is to break
down the barriers
between designers and
end-users, making it
possible for non-
designers become
designers. Designers
5. No-designers becoming
Yes-Designers
How?
Having end users fabricate the
products they need, like a craft.
New, craft-based industries are making
their business, either locally oriented
or operating globally over the internet.
7. Things are changing
The roles of designer, client, user and
end user are being shaken up in these
more complex areas of design and
product development.
The designer is no longer ‘the creative
guy’
The user is not anymore only a
‘passive, un-critical consumer’
The roles between these two are
starting to change and mix into new
ways.
8. How this roles are changing?
The traditional division of roles in the
design process are changing.
One way is to call tech-savvy users
contribute to the process of generating
solutions, and develop new features for
products.
Other way is context mapping,
involving end users as experts in their
own experience, in order to help them
become competent partners within the
design team.
10. Co-creation
Co-creation indicates a
collaborative creative effort,
either large or small, and often
localized.
How is co-creation different
from collaboration? It is a
special case of collaboration
where the intent is to create
something that is not known
in advance.
Is asking the user: What can
we create for you?
11. Co-design
Co-design refers to co-creation
used in the course of the
design process, preferably
from beginning to end, across According to Churchman:
the whole span of a design "(Co-design) begins when
first you view the world
process. through the eyes of
another."
The article focuses on context
mapping, a specific aspect of
co-design, in which end users
are assigned the role of expert
informant.
Is asking the user: How can
we create this product for
you?
12. Different roles
The traditional view of design identifies three roles:
The user, who buys and will live with the product
The designer, who conceives the product
The client, who manufactures and distributes the product.
For instance, the client conducts market research, spots an opportunity in the market,
gives a brief to the designer which specifies design requirements, and expects to receive a
concept design in return.
13. But now the roles are changing...
In co-creation, roles and responsibilities which had previously
been thought of as separate are interacting, merging, or even
being swapped back and forth between the parties; some roles are
disappearing in the form in which we knew them, and new roles
are appearing.
14. Why are these roles changing?
The people controlling the design process are seeing
that the user can be a source of valuable input, not
just a channel for directing output.
16. Users are getting savvier
The internet has made it possible for
users to be more informed, giving them
opportunities to be involved and have a
say in what is made for them.
17. Designers getting savvier too
The designer is becoming an hybrid
that has to incorporates more and
more areas of expertise: part creator,
part researcher, part facilitator, part
process manager.
The key is that designers find their own
area of experitise.
18. Design clients are diversifying
Everyday problems and complex
problems are claiming more and better
design solutions.
Large projects as the design of
hospitals, or services involve multiple
clients at the same time and from very
different areas. Let's make a hospital! Who is
the client?
They want solution-oriented thinking. - The government
- The ministries involved
Referred to collectively as ‘service - The sponsors
design’ or ‘design thinking’,). - The construction company
SOLVE MY PROBLEM NOW!
20. The designer–client relationship
The designer–client relationship is no longer as simple as
Problem → concept design → solution
In the Dashboard User Guide, Stevens & Watson distinguish 5
degrees:
1. prescribing (one concept to deliver on the brief)
2. menu (several concepts to choose from)
3. co-creation DIY (collaboration as equals)
4. assistance (the client receiving design coaching and help),
5. DIY (the client does the design while the designer observes and
interjects comments as needed).
21. The client–user relationship
The client–user relationship
is opening up in open design
and meta-design.
In open design,
Ronen Kadushin
manufacturing options are
becoming widespread and
accessible.
In meta-design, products are
made with sufficient
adaptability to leave a
number of final design
choices to the user.
Crocs
22. The designer–user relationship
The designer–user
relationship is opening
up strongly throughout
the entire design process.
Frequently, users can
participate in correcting
the design, providing
ideas for solutions, or
evaluating concepts.
They are rarely involved
in deciding what will be
made (as would be the
case of participatory
design).
23. How they started paying attention
The complaints department in
many companies was the place
that received most input from
the users, in the form of
returned products.
In many cases, the product
was returned not because of a
product defect, but because
the user could not figure out
how to operate it, or because
of disappointment.
24. How it evolved
In the 80s and 90s,
consultations with
users moved up earlier
and earlier, first
advancing through
sales and marketing,
then usability testing,
and finally concept
evaluation.
This helped companies
launch better products
by eliminating
problems earlier in the
design process.
25. What is context mapping?
Context mapping method
help users to observe and
reflect on parts of their
lives, and to use these
reflections in making a
‘map’ that reflects the
various facets of their
experiences.
This map provides the
design team with
information, inspiration
and empathy, feeding
further development of
the concept design into a
product
26. Principles of context mapping
The approach is built on four main principles:
1. Users are involved as the experts on their own experience.
2. By self-observation and reflection is possible to extract the most
important points of their expertise.
3. The design team uses the information on the context of use like
a map: it should provide multifaceted, rich and supportive leads to
explore the experiential context.
4. Facilitating this process requires a mixture of design
competencies and research skills (where is the solution, how can it
be made)
27. Example
The example on the book is based on a
project of a company that offered a large
range of hearing protectors.
The brainstorming sessions about which
product to make where made by one agency,
the concept was build by another and the
technical design by another; and then
handed back to the main company (note all
the specializations of different design
agencies)
To be able to step into the shoes of the
users, designers made a context mapping
study and after that, an experiment.
After doing this they found new directions
for innovation at different levels.
28. Conclusions
About the roles in the design process
In many industries, they know that
the traditional separation of roles
must change, and is changing little by
little, but is not easy.
Why it is not easy to change?
… they don't have enough money or
don't know how much it costs (to
bring users to help)
… they don't know how a good
design approach can contribute
… they lack of innovative user-
driven attitudes.
29. Conclusions
About companies putting this change of roles
in practice
It is more difficult for the larger industries
- user participation in their research budgets
but
- design process are connected only through
formal documents and fail in having a rich
communication.
For smaller companies, who have much
smaller budgets,
- often build a stronger relationship with their
users.
- they may not count with the aid of
appropriate methods (tech/money problem)
