Participation is risky. On generative participation in design.
One of the concerns in my research and of the research groups Social Spaces and (MMUS) Mapping/modelling Urban Space is how participation in our design research projects can be kept alive beyond the design phase itself. We call this the generative potential of a design project. In my book ‘Participation is Risky’ I describe how this generativity of design projects is difficult to manage, predict or control by designers and is therefore experienced as risky. In this book and follow-up research, I tried to detect what risky trade-offs take place between designers and participants that can – but not a priori will - contribute to generative participation in design. I formulated these trade-offs based on an ‘archaeology’ of how the domains of participatory design, human computer interaction, design activism and art have approached this issue of duration. In my talk I will give a brief overview of this research on generativity: I will present samples of this body of literature, illustrate it with case examples of our own work (projects concerning open hardware, sustainable design, design for health and public space design) and explain how these represent the different meanings of generativity and risks involved.
