Erling Björgvinsson
ABSTRACT
Participatory design has become increasingly engaged in public spheres and everyday life and is no longer solely concerned with the workplace. This is not only a shift from work oriented productive activities to leisure and pleasurable engagements, but also a new milieu for production and innovation and entails a reorientation from "democracy at work" to "democratic innovation". What democratic innovation entails is currently defined by management and innovation research, which claims that innovation has been democratized through easy access to production tools and lead-users as the new experts driving innovation. We sketch an alternative "democratizing innovation" practice more in line with the original visions of participatory design based on our experience of running Malmö Living Labs - an open innovation milieu where new constellations, issues and ideas evolve from bottom-up long-term collaborations amongst diverse stakeholders. Two cases and controversial matters of concern are discussed. The fruitfulness of the concepts "Things" (as opposed to objects), "infrastructuring" (as opposed to projects) and "agonistic public spaces" (as opposed to consensual decision-making) are explored in relation to participatory innovation practices and democracy.
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Index Terms
- Participatory design and "democratizing innovation"
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Reviews
John R Bowditch
"Participatory design" and "democratizing innovation" are modern buzzwords that many people recognize as important but few understand. The authors propose an alternative practice of democratizing innovation by discussing the research conducted at Malm? Living Labs, an "open-source innovation milieu where new constellations, issues, and ideas evolve from bottom-up, long-term collaborations amongst diverse stakeholders." This is not an easy subject to research or measure. The authors present two projects that explore the use of participatory design in public settings outside of the workplace. They accomplish this by designing things ("thinging") and "infrastructuring" innovation interventions. "Thinging" is an object or service that deals with matters of concern. The first project is a collaboration with RGRA, "a grassroots hip-hop organization whose members are first and second generation immigrants." The second project works with Herrg?rds Women Association, "a resourceful group of immigrant women living in a multi-ethnic and contentious suburb of Malm?." Both projects are fascinating, and their conclusions are truly best practices. The projects' methods serve as interesting case studies for how participatory design can be used to create interesting experiences within a diverse group of people. The authors have clearly identified an area of research that is increasingly relevant. The citations are appropriate and the conclusions are strong. Researchers interested in democratic innovation, participatory design, crowd sourcing, user-driven experiences, or "thinging" and infrastructure will find this paper informative. Online Computing Reviews Service
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