Participatory Design
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On What People Can Do and Technology Can't
Technology • Service Design • Human-centeredness • Participatory Design
Technological development is not autonomous, nor inevitable. A focus on human judgement and collective action should inform our design actions as a society, so that we are actively deciding how technology should change the world, rather that just assuming that it does.
In the Bubble • John Thackara • 2005
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On Being Master of One’s Own Stuff
Technology • Human-centeredness • Participatory Design • Making
The experience of manual engagement with our world, of making and fixing things, is vital to the idea of human agency and dignity, but is often denied by designed objects that seek to smooth the rough edges for us.
Shop Class as Soulcraft • Matthew Crawford • 2009
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On the Ethics of Maintenance and Repair
Human-centeredness • Participatory Design • Making
When work is rooted in a reality external to yourself, you are taught a kind of humility in order to reach a level of understanding that then empowers you to act. This can be an unselfish way to see the process of design.
Shop Class as Soulcraft • Matthew Crawford • 2009
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On Communities of Use
Participatory Design • Making • Situatedness
Work is made meaningful through shared standards of good that emerge from the context of a community of use and of practice. Environments that abstract this intrinsic good end up demoralizing the worker.
Shop Class as Soulcraft • Matthew Crawford • 2009
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On Coupling By Users, Not Designers
Embodiment • Human-centeredness • Participatory Design
Users build the intentional relationships between objects through use, not the designer. Instead of planning for specific scenarios of use, designers should consider how an object is made available for appropriation and adaptation.
Where the Action Is • Paul Dourish • 2001
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On Everyday Creativity
Participatory Design • Everyday • Making
When we understand creativity as a process with a focus on the emotions it arouses and the presence of the people involved (rather than as some exclusive talent), we frame even the simplest craft activities of everyday people as empowering, meaningful, and important.
Making Is Connecting • David Gauntlett • 2011
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On Making as Political
Technology • Participatory Design • Making
Every act of even simple creativity is inherently political in that it represents worldview that empowers people to make choices and shape the things around them. We should protect this self-expression, especially as we develop the design of online and networked platforms.
Making Is Connecting • David Gauntlett • 2011