Teaching Module to Train Students in the Participatory Design of Digital Technologies for Disability Assistance

Abstract

Teaching the principles of participatory design to students mainly interested in digital skills is important because user-centered approaches have become essential in the field of new technologies when we want to guarantee that a product will meet the needs of its end-users. Working with technologies dedicated to the disability assistance was considered to be the right application domain. In 2021, ESIEE Paris, a school training students to become engineers with digital skills, created and opened a new teaching module to learn how to follow the principles of participatory design to improve the quality of a project. This paper describes the organization and the conclusions of this experience after two editions of the module.