Deconstructing Community-Based Collaborative Design: Towards More Equitable Participatory Design Engagement

Participatory Design (PD) is envisionedas an approach to democratizing innovation in the design process by shiftingthe power dynamics between researcher and participant. Recent scholarship in HCI and design has analyzed the ways collaborative design engagements, such as PD situated in the design workshopcan amplify voices and empowerunderservedpopulations. Yet, we argue that PD as instantiated inthe design workshop is very much an affluent and privileged activity that often neglectsthe challenges associated with envisioning equitable design solutions among underserved populations. Based on twoseries ofcommunity-based PD workshops with underserved populations in the U.S., we highlight key areas of tensionand considerations for a more equitable PD approach: historical context of the research environment, community access, perceptions of materials and activities, and unintentional harm in collecting full accounts of personal narratives. By reflecting onthese tensions as a call-to-action, we hope to deconstruct the privilege of the PD workshop within HCI and re-center the focus ofdesign on individuals who are historically underserved.