Abstract
This advanced-level tutorial extends conceptions of
participatory activities in software development processes.
Diversity in practice begins with a re-assessment of two
methods for participatory design - CARD
and PICTIVE - to include applications in participatory
analysis and participatory assessment. These
experiences are generalized to a broader approach called
PANDA (Participatory ANalysis, Design, and Assessment).
Topics in support of participatory activities cover
democratic processes for small groups, as well as
theoretical and heuristic approaches to working with a
mosaic of dissimilar people in terms of mutual validation,
learning, exchange, and respect. The tutorial's themes are
integrated in a closing discussion of participatory methods
in the software lifecycle.
Keywords: Participatory design, collaborative design,
participatory practices, usability methods, user centered
design, user interface design, task analysis, requirements
analysis, usability assessment, CARD, PICTIVE, bifocals,
PANDA.
Introduction
This tutorial explores "advanced topics" in participatory
design, using a combination of lectures and hands-on
exercises. Lectures - which take up approximately 50%
of the tutorial - cover the following topics:
- diversity of participatory methods
- cultural situatedness of participatory practices
- issues in small group participatory processes, including
democratic processes and a set of heuristics for working
with a mosaic of diverse stakeholders.
- participatory activities throughout the software
development lifecycle, in activities such as analysis,
design, and assessment
Each lecture/discussion includes open issues to which
tutorial participants' contributions are essential. Summaries
of the lecture/discussion material are based in part on what
the participants bring to the tutorial.
The other 50% of the tutorial is devoted to small group
exercises. Previous, intermediate-level offerings around
this topic [1] taught a single experience with
each of five participatory techniques. By contrast, this
advanced-level tutorial follows the advice of participants in
the earlier tutorials, and focuses in greater depth on only
two techniques: CARD and PICTIVE . Small group
exercises for these two techniques are designed to facilitate
different experiences within each group,
through (a) differences in the materials used for each
technique, and (b) differences in the phase of the software
development process at which the technique is applied
(analysis, design, or assessment). Small group read-outs
form a major part of the work: Each group educates the
others about its experiences in these diverse applications of
similar practices.
The day's work is summarized in a discussion of adapting
and integrating participatory methods into software
development lifecycles.
OBJECTIVES OF THE TUTORIAL
This advanced-level tutorial is intended to deepen
participants' knowledge of participatory design in relation
to the software development process, with emphases on the
following objectives:
- Develop knowledge of a diversity of participatory
practices that can be used at various points in the
software development process, such as analysis, design,
and assessment.
- Understand the diversity of practices and outcomes with
two participatory activities - CARD and PICTIVE -
and develop abilities to use either or both techniques to
solve a variety of problems (analysis, design, and
assessment).
- Become familiar with process issues in participatory
activities, including models of democratic processes for
small groups, "ethnocritical heuristics" for working with
Others, and techniques for integrating diverse views.
- Understand the issues involved in integrating
participatory activities into a software development
lifecycle model.
INTENDED AUDIENCE AND LEVEL
This advanced tutorial spans several domains. It is
intended for people who are familiar with either (a)
participatory design, or (b) the software development
process. Ideally, participants will have experience with
either (a) one or more participatory practices, or (b) at least
one model of the software development lifecycle.
CONTENT
This tutorial contains a combination of theory and practice,
which are mutually supportive.
Introduction: Goals, Process, and Participation
The tutorial begins with a review of the goals of
participatory design, interpreted and implemented in
different national and cultural contexts. Because one of the
goals of PD is to support workplace democracy, the tutorial
also provides an introduction to several different models of
democracy for small groups. We explore not only the
formal aspects of workplace democracy, but also certain
gating conditions for democratic processes,
such as enhancement of safety and avoidance of
silencing. A brief small-group exercise provides an
opportunity to try out these ideas.
The tutorial then surveys the domain of participatory
practices. An important, emergent question becomes:
How should a practice be described? How can a practice
be made usable to the field of software engineering? This
discussion introduces a theme that will return to haunt us
later in the tutorial: the theme of adapting and
integrating participatory practices into the software
development lifecycle. This section of the tutorial
concludes with a summary discussion of process and
participation, that will be the foundation for the following
two sections.
Diversity in Practices: CARD and PICTIVE
The second and third sections of the tutorial provide hands-
on experiences with two participatory methods: CARD
and PICTIVE. Unlike earlier tutorials, each small group
will use these methods differently, and we will
spend a significant part of our time in mutual education, as
the small groups report to one another on their experiences.
These exercises also provide further opportunities for
experimentation with democratic processes.
Participatory Activities in the Lifecycle
The fourth section of the tutorial extends our understanding
of participation in several ways. Based in part on the
preceding hands-on exercises, we reflect on how
participatory practices have also been used not only for
participatory design, but for participatory
analysis and participatory
assessment as well. We consider a more
diverse conception called PANDA (Participatory ANalysis,
Design, and Assessment).
We also extend our understanding of participatory
activities in depth. This subsection focuses on issues of
users as Others - that is, people unlike software
professionals - and depends upon theoretical insights
from anthropology, cultural criticism, feminism, and post-
modernism. Some of the value choices that are articulated
in this section may become gating issues in achieving the
goals of participatory design (and PANDA), including their
incorporation into software development lifecycles.
Finally, the tutorial concludes with a discussion of
strategies for introducing and adapting participatory
practices in the tutorial participants' work.
INSTRUCTOR'S BACKGROUND
Michael J. Muller is a member of technical staff at
U S WEST Technologies. He has developed several
methods for participatory design, and has applied
participatory and other usability methods in the analysis,
design, and assessment of a variety of telecommunications
products, services, and research projects at U S WEST, and
previously at Bellcore. With Ellen White and Daniel
Wildman, Michael has team taught workshops and tutorials
on participatory methods at CHI, INTERCHI, HFES, and
CPSR conferences. He has served in conference
workshops and two US National Science Foundation task
forces that were concerned with integrating usability
methods into the software development process.
The formal part of Michael's education includes a PhD in
cognitive psychology from Rutgers University (1983).
Acknowledgments
I thank Daniel Wildman and Ellen White for their role in
our shared work in previous tutorials, and for their
approval of my offering this tutorial on a solo basis. I am
grateful to Cathleen Wharton for her close reading of the
proposal for this tutorial, and for her challenging and
deeply positive criticism of it.
REFERENCE
[1] Muller, M.J., Wildman, D.M., and White, E.A. (1994).
Participatory design through games and other
group exercises. Tutorial at CHI'94. Boston
MA: ACM, April 1994.
