Participatory Design through Responsible Games

Participatory design has gained widespread recognition since 1997, when Russel Ackoff outlined the idea in“Systems, Messes and Interacti ve Planning.” This paradigmhas revealed the democratic potential of design by consideringthe public as a primary contributor, while designers are enabler in the design process. However, the prerequisiteknowledge needed at every stage of the design process forms a barrier between parti cipants and design. To eliminate such barrier, designers and planners oft en simplifyproblems in controlled environments, like games and playful events, for the participants. Although this solution might seem legitimate from a technical perspective, questions ofagency, ethics and methodology arise. Is the general public still a genuine contributor when filtered through games and toy approaches? How would a planner or designer employing such a methodology ensure the quality of the outcome?

Volume Editors
Jasmine Benyamin, Kyle Reynolds, Mo Zell, Nikole Bouchard & Whitney Moon

ISBN
978-1-944214-28-9