Shifting involvement: case studies of participatory design in graphic design

Participatory design includes end-users in the design process with the aim of harnessing their contextual knowledge and creative ideas. The participatory design literature considers the capacity of end-user participation to enhance design outcomes in workplace design, information technology, human-computer interaction, product design, architecture and urban planning. There is little evidence of its use in graphic design, despite participatory design emerging as a field of practice and research in the early 1970s. This leaves graphic designers with a lack of knowledge about how to include end-users in the design process in an era of end-user engagement. This study trialled participatory design processes in two graphic design real-world projects. In one, childcare workers and designers developed information strategies to promote low-chemical cleaning. The other saw designers and health educators design asthma information materials. Case study method was used, allowing for rich description and interpretation of the complex factors involved in design. A main claim of participatory design is that it remedies design's conventional exclusion of people from decisions that concern them. This assumes that the identities and role of end-user and designer participants remains discrete and stable throughout the design process. This study into the use of participatory design in graphic design found a more complex situation. End-users were changed by participation, preferring to design for others rather than themselves. No other study in participatory design reports this tendency, identifying the research as an original contribution to the field in contesting the role of end-user participants as representatives of a specific end-user group.