Participative Design
A paradigm shift.
By; Engr.Dr.Attaullah Shah
PhD ( Civil) Engg , MSc Engg ( Strs), BSc Engg ( Gold Medalist),),
MBA, MA ( Eco) MSc Envir Design, PGD Computer Sc.
Tel: 051-9250100
E-mail: pdaiou@yahoo.com.
Definition and History
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In participatory design participants (putative, potential or future)
are invited to cooperate with designers, researchers and
developers during an innovation process
Potentially, they participate during several stages of an innovation
process
Participatory design was actually born in Scandinavia and named
Cooperative Design
In US the term participative design was used.
In Scandinavia, research projects on user participation in systems
development date back to the 1970s (Bødker 1996). The so-called
"collective resource approach" developed strategies and
techniques for workers to influence the design and use of
computer applications at the workplace
Participatory design in built environment.
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Participatory design has many applications in development and
changes to the built environment.
It has particular currency to planners and architects, in relation to
place making and community regeneration projects.
It potentially offers a far more democratic approach to the design
process as it involves more than one stakeholder.
The City of Melbourne Swanton Street redevelopment project
received over 5000 responses from the public allowing them to
participate in the design process by commenting on seven different
design options
Portland, Oregon city repair project is a form of participatory
design, which involves the community co-designing problem areas
together to make positive changes to their environment
Why involve users at all?
•Expectation management
• Realistic expectations
• No surprises, no disappointments
• Timely training
• Communication, but no hype
•Ownership
• Make the users active stakeholders
• More likely to forgive or accept problems
• Can make a big difference to acceptance and
success of product
Degrees of user involvement
•Member of the design team
— Full time: constant input, but lose touch with users
— Part time: patchy input, and very stressful
— Short term: inconsistent across project life
— Long term: consistent, but lose touch with users
•Newsletters and other dissemination devices
— Reach wider selection of users
— Need communication both ways
•Combination of these approaches
What is a user-centered approach?
User-centered approach is based on:
– Early focus on users and tasks: directly studying cognitive,
behavioural, anthropomorphic & attitudinal characteristics
– Empirical measurement: users’ reactions and performance to
scenarios, manuals, simulations & prototypes are observed,
recorded and analysed
– Iterative design: when problems are found in user testing, fix
them and carry out more tests
Understanding users’ work
•Understanding users’ work is significant
•Ethnography:
from anthropology
‘writing the culture’
participant observation
•Difficult to use the output of ethnography in design
Framework for using ethnography in design
•Distributed co-ordination: distributed nature of the tasks &
activities, and the means and mechanisms by which they are coordinated
•Plans and procedures: organisational support for the work, such
as workflow models and organisational charts, and how these are
used to support the work
•Awareness of work: how people keep themselves aware of
others’ work
Coherence
•A method which offers appropriate questions to help address
these key dimensions
•For example:
—Distributed Coordination: How is the division of labour
manifest through the work of individuals and its co-ordination
with others?
—Plans and procedures: How do plans and procedures function in
the workplace?
Contextual Design
•Developed to handle data collection and analysis from fieldwork
for developing a software-based product
•Used quite widely commercially
•Contextual Design has seven parts:
Contextual inquiry, Work modelling,
Consolidation, Work redesign,
User environment design,
Mock-up and test with customers,
Putting it into Practice
Contextual Inquiry
•An approach to ethnographic study where user is expert, designer
is apprentice
•A form of interview, but
—at users’ workplace (workstation)
—2 to 3 hours long
•Four main principles:
—Context: see workplace & what happens
—Partnership: user and developer collaborate
—Interpretation: observations interpreted by user and developer
together
—Focus: project focus to help understand what to look for
Work Modeling
 In interpretation session, models are drawn from the
observations:
 Work flow model: the people, communication and co-ordination
 Sequence model: detailed work steps to achieve a goal
 Artifact model: the physical ‘things’ created to do the work
 Cultural model: constraints on the system from organizational
culture
 Physical model: physical structure of the work, e.g. office layout
Consolidation
 Each contextual inquiry (one for each user/developer pair)
results in a set of models
 These need to be consolidated into one view of ‘the work’
 Affinity diagram
—Organizes interpretation session notes into common
structures and themes
—Categories arise from the data
—Diagram is built through induction
 Work models consolidated into one of each type
Participatory Design
 Scandinavian history
 Emphasises social and organisational aspects
 Based on study, model-building and analysis of new and
potential future systems
Aspects to user involvement include
—Who will represent the user community?
Interaction may need to be assisted by a facilitator
—Shared representations
—Co-design using simple tools such as paper or video
scenarios
—Designers and users communicate about proposed designs
—Cooperative evaluation such as assessment of prototypes
Benefits of Participatory Design
“Computer-based systems that are poorly suited to how people
actually work impose cost not only on the organisation in terms of
low productivity but also on the people who work with them.
Studies of work in computer-intensive workplaces have pointed to a
host of serious problems that can be caused by job design that is
insensitive to the nature of the work being performed, or to the
needs of human beings in an automated workplace.”
[Kuhn, S. in Bringing Design to Software, 1996]
The Generic Evaluation process.
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Giving opportunity to different groups of stakeholders
Who takes part in an evaluation:
» Participant groups (5-10 groups per facility/ 3 to 7 per
interest group).
 Providers ( Supply side)
 Users ( demand side)
» Facilitators: ( 2 to 3 people on each from provider, user and
a researcher.)
» Managers to Authorize evaluation ( 1 to 2 people one each
from provider and user)
Evaluation process Cont’d
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Three steps involved.
» Introductory meetings
» Touring review
» Review meeting
 Introductory meetings
– Facilitators meet with the participant group and explain the
process
 Touring interview:
– Walk through the building
– Open ended questionnaire
– Topics raised by the users are noted
 Review Meeting s:
– Outcomes of the evaluation formulated and agreed on
– Topics raised are discussed
– Recommendations are made.
Uses of generic evaluation process.
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Fixing:
– Fine tuning of trouble shooting
– Focused study by specialist
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Selecting:
– Assisting in selection of accommodation
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Programming:
– As an aid to design of new and refurbished facility
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Developing knowledge:
– Gathering information to form corporate knowledge.
Post Occupancy Evaluation ( POE)
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Post Occupancy Evaluation involves systematic evaluation of
opinion about buildings in use, from the perspective of the people
who use them.
It assesses how well buildings match users' needs, and identifies
ways to improve building design, performance and fitness for
purpose.
POE is a way of providing feedback throughout a building’s
lifecycle from initial concept through to occupation.
The information from feedback can be used for informing future
projects, whether it is on the process of delivery or technical
performance of the building. It serves several purposes:
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Benefits of POE
Short term benefits of POE
» Identification of and finding solutions to problems in
buildings;
» Response to user needs;
» Improve space utilization based on feedback from use;
» Understanding of implications on buildings of change
whether it is budget cuts or working context;
» Informed decision making
Medium term benefits of POE
» Built-in capacity for building adaptation to organizational
change and growth;
» Finding new uses for buildings;
» Accountability for building performance by designers
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Longer term benefits of POE
» Long-term improvements in building performance;
» Improvement in design quality;
» Strategic review
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Step 1: Identify POE strategy
» What: Identify the need for the evaluation and probable
aspects of the evaluation
Step 2: Decide which approach
» Identify what issues the evaluation must address and
whether it will be carried out internally or by external
consultant
Step 3: Brief for the POE
» Succinct statement setting out the purpose of the POE
and how it is to be achieved
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Step 4: Plan the POE
» Select approaches that will meet your needs
Step 5: Carry out POE
» Distribute and collect survey questionnaires, carry
out interviews, meetings and observations
Step 6: Prepare the report
» Feedback of findings
Step 7: Action in response to POE
» Feed information into policies. Feed information
into next project
Who needs to be involved and key issues to
consider for University buildings:
The areas covered in a Process
evaluation
The areas covered in a Functional and
Technical Performance evaluation
Data Collection Tools for Evaluation
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Walk through and observation
» This can use both observation, reflecting on how space is
performing, and informal discussions with users to identify
conflicts.
» Advantages
 Few staff resources needed
 Can be done without any end user involvement or
inconvenience
 Can provide quantitative data if designed appropriately
 Enables unbiased view
» Disadvantages
 Methodology may demand rigorous application e.g.
observations at particular times of the day
 Comparison can be difficult unless observer is given a
methodology to apply
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Interviews
– Interviews with individuals are a useful way of getting very
specific, detailed information and developing
– A deeper understanding of particular problems. They are best
facilitated by a professional who is able to be objective.
– Whilst there needs to be a focus to an interview they are often
most useful when conducted with a loose agenda, allowing free
discussion to pick up issues that may not be initially obvious.
– Advantages
» Detailed exploration of issues
» Fine grain of detail and insights can be generated
» Target very specific knowledge
» Easier to arrange meetings with individuals than groups
– Disadvantages
» Specific opinions do not necessarily represent broad
views
» Biased response likely
» Cannot benchmark
» No anonymity
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Focus groups
– Focus groups are a good way of drawing out information on a
range of topics. Often they are a useful adjunct to a
questionnaire survey where the responses to that have
identified key problem areas but you need to get more
qualitative information on them to understand the problem.
Advantages
– Management time needed to prepare is less than for
questionnaire survey • Involves relatively in few people
– Enables specific issues to be addressed in detail
– Interactions between attendees enables deeper insights
– Flexibility of coverage, agenda can allow issues to be explored
as they are uncovered
– Useful for teasing out broad issues uncovered by questionnaire
survey
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Disadvantages
– Expert facilitation needed
– Qualitative data lacks statistical rigor of survey
questionnaire
– Bias of those who attend – therefore selection of
attendees critical
– No anonymity – people may be reticent to say what
they think
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Workshops
A workshop is useful for defining and exploring problems
rather than merely discussing what those problems are.
In a Post Occupancy Evaluation workshops can be a
useful way to explore possible solutions to problems by
using group experience. A disadvantage is that they can be
time consuming.
A workshop should last at least half a day and have a
broad agenda which identifies the focus of each session.
Identify a range of staff to bring in different types of
experience
Break down the main topic into sub-topics allowing about
an hour for each
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With the group define specific questions that need to be
addressed and get the group to define answers
Record the groups responses so that everyone can see –
flip charts/white boards are useful for this
Allow time to summarize
Where there are say more than eight people in the
workshop consider breaking it down into sub groups which
are easier to manage and ensure that everyone takes part.
These subgroups can be given different issues or questions
to address
Prepare and circulate the workshop report to all
participants
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Questionnaires
Questionnaires are a valuable way of collecting data from a large
group of people.
It is important to consider whether a standard or tailored questionnaire
is required.
Standard questionnaires offer the advantage of being able to gather
consistent data across your facilities. The benefit of this is that you
can benchmark buildings, or parts of buildings against each other.
A standard questionnaire that is available from expert consultancies
enable benchmarking a building project against others in the sector.
Tailored questionnaires enable examination of issues specific to the
building or institution. However, it is possible to combine the two
approaches and use a standard questionnaire with a section that is
specific to your circumstances.
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Advantages
Generates detailed quantitative data from end users
Allows performance benchmarking
Problems can be geographically pinpointed (i.e. where in
building respondent works)
Obtains a broad based opinion
Anonymity can be given
Enables comparative surveys to identify trends and responses to
remedial action
Disadvantages
Requires skilled design
Requires careful administration to ensure response
Requires staff time to complete
Requires skills to analyze and interpret responses
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Measurement and physical monitoring
e.g. light levels, noise levels, air and radiant
temperatures, CO2 levels, air flow rates
Needs a level of acceptable environment to be defined
for comparative purposes
Needs a clear strategy to determine measurements points,
frequencies and duration of monitoring
Can be combined with energy monitoring to assess
overall building energy efficiency
Advantages: Quantitative objective data
Problems can be geographically pinpointed (i.e. where
respondent works)
Problems can be pinpointed in time (eg season, time of
day)
Disadvantages:
 Expertise needed to take measurements and interpret
results
Appointment of external consultants may be needed
Hiring of appropriate equipment, Measurements may need
to be taken over a significant period of time, therefore quick,
meaningful results may be harder to obtain,
 Measuring equipment will be left in place – possibility of
disruption and inconvenience
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BENCHMARKING
Benchmarking is used to compare buildings or space
performance against recognized leading edge examples.
It can also be used to compare buildings within an
institution’s own portfolio.
Benchmarking is a continuous systematic process of
measuring relative performance against relevant
comparators.
Be aware that benchmark data can be distorted by
situations that are unique to a particular organization.
For example high levels of pollution in the atmosphere
may mean windows have to be cleaned more often, or the
organization may have high occupancy.
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Types of criteria that are often used for benchmarking:
Space use:
– Occupancy ration/floor area
– Space utilization (what space is used for and for how
long)
– Costs:
Whole life cost
Construction project cost
Operating costs
Environmental:
– Energy
– CO2 emissions
– Water use
Case Study: POE
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Retail Bank Design Project : New Zealand
– In the early 1990s, the Bank of New Zealand embarked on
a major project to redesign 100 branches throughout New
Zealand, at a cost of $165 million.
– The aim was to create a new retail banking environment
which supported the bank's customer-focused sales and
service culture.
– Post Occupancy Evaluations of some 25 branches
between 1993 and 1996 was done. The aim was to assess
whether the Retail Design Project "provided the best
environment from a customer and personnel perspective.
It needed to be both practicable and work hard to achieve
strategic outcomes."
Client Comment
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"The Post Occupancy Evaluation process was essential for our
assessment of the Retail Design Project ... (It) is a rigorous
process which from a customer service and operations context
provides valuable feedback. Post Occupancy Evaluation was
ideal for our purposes because it measured quality of the
physical environment.“
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The new retail concept effectively redefined consumer and
business banking in New Zealand: the Post Occupancy
Evaluations identified what customers and staff thought of the
new environment.
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De Montfort method, Report accessible from www.architecture.com
Blyth, A and Worthington J, Managing the brief for better design, Spon Press, 2001
Cohen, R., Standeven, M., Bordass, W, and Leaman, A., PROBE Strategic Review,
199
Jaunzens, D., Hadi, M., and Graves, H., Encouraging Post Occupancy Evaluation,
CRISP, 2001
Jaunzens, D., Cohen, R., Watson, M., and Picton., Post Occupancy Evaluation – a
simple method for the early stages of occupancy, CIBSE, 2002
Design with distinction: The value of good building design in higher education,
CABE, 2005
Creating Excellent Buildings – a guide for clients, CABE, 2003
Preiser.W, Vischer J, Assessing building performance, Elsevier, 2005
BS 7832: 1995 (ISO 9699:1994) “Performance standards in building – Checklist for
briefing – Contents of brief for building design”
Useful websites Organisations,www.hefce.ac.uk,www.heestates.ac.uk
www.sfc.ac.uk,www.aude.ac.uk,www.cibse.org,www.constructingexcellence.org.uk
,POE methodologies,De Montfort method: www.architecture.com
Overall Liking Score: www.absconsulting.uk.com,Usable Building Trust for
PROBE, Building Use Studies Occupancy surveys, Soft Landings approach:
www.usablebuildings.co.uk,Design Quality Indicators: www.dqi.org.uk