Participatory Design for Personswith Cognitive or Sensory Impairments

Part 7: WorkshopsInternational audienceWhen designing for users with impairments involving cognitive orsensory abilities affecting communication (e.g. Autism Spectrum Disorder,Alzheimer’s Disease or hearing impairments), common research and designtechniques for involving such users might not be usable or need to be adjusted.This full-day workshop aims to 1) bring together researchers and designers whowork on participatory design for persons with cognitive or sensory impairments;2) exchange ideas and experiences regarding participatory design techniquesfor such persons; 3) identify general principles for participatory designfor such persons.The workshop has a creative, generative character and has four parts:Introduction. Participants introduce themselves to create an informal atmosphereto share best practices and common problems.Technique mapping. In small groups, using a template poster, participantsdiscuss participatory techniques they have used with persons with impairments.Next, the groups discuss which elements of each technique they would keep,change, add or delete for future design. Finally, they formulate six ‘take homemessages’.Critique. The groups critically review the other groups’ take home messages(cf. design critique) by indicating elements they fully agree with, elements theywould adjust, and elements they don’t agree with at all.General discussion. Finally, the critiques on the take home messages arepresented. Commonalities and differences between the messages are identified,and general principles and key research questions regarding participatory designfor persons with impairments are extracted.The workshop has two follow-up activities: 1) Participants are invited to joina wiki that was set up for sharing information, literature, techniques, etc.; 2) Acall for papers for a special issue of the journal CoDesign.More information on the workshop can be found at the workshop website:http://interact2013impairmentsworkshop.wordpress.com