Past, present and future of collaborative design: From user centric to user driven design

Abstract

Agents, artifacts and environment together constitute an interconnected, and interdependent social system beleaguered with complex palimpsest of concerns. How can design thinking visualize the contradictory and controversial nature of matters of concern, where perspectives and stakes are unequal, contesting and conflicting, but with inter dependencies, not all of which are entirely predictable? Prompted by advancing technology and increasing complexity of the design inquiry, role of the user in negotiating such contestations has lately been in flux. Increasingly, the user is perceived not as a mere consumer driven by immediate self-serving gains, but as an inter-dependent actor negotiating for an empowering and equitable solution for all. This necessitates the exploration of how blurring of strict boundaries between user, designer, and a social agent is diluting dichotomies between user/designer, social-worker/capitalist, consumer/producer, use/profit, or need/desire. Hence, this paper is an epistemic inquiry into the trajectory of user participation in responsible decision-making through the analysis of six design frameworks holding different kinds and extents of social accountability. Thereby seeking, twofold objectives: (a) to establish the theoretical antecedents of user participation in design for social responsibility, and (b) to assess the future of responsible design decisions in discourse and practice.