Additionally, if a user-driven firm is only selectively open to user participation, rather than fully inclusive, observing consumers may not feel socially included, attenuating the identified preference.
"[9] In contrast, Elizabeth Sanders and Pieter Stappers state that "the terminology used until the recent obsession with what is now called co-creation/co-design" was "participatory design".
[11] Buchanan's definition of culture as a verb is a key part of Golsby-Smith's argument in favour of fourth order design.
[13] Generative co-design is increasingly being used to involve different stakeholders as patient, care professionals and designers actively in the creative making process to develop health services.
However, a successful collaboration requires teams first to get ready to work in harmony towards a shared goal and to appreciate interdisciplinarity"[16] From the 1960s onward there was a growing demand for greater consideration of community opinions in major decision-making.
A lack of consultation made the planning system seem paternalistic and without proper consideration of how changes to the built environment affected its primary users.
[19] The so-called "collective resource approach" developed strategies and techniques for workers to influence the design and use of computer applications at the workplace: The Norwegian Iron and Metal Workers Union (NJMF) project took a first move from traditional research to working with people, directly changing the role of the union clubs in the project.
This method is focused on the insights, experiences and input from end-users on a product or service, with the aim to develop strategies for improvement.
C. K. Prahalad and Venkat Ramaswamy are usually given credit for bringing co-creation/co-design to the minds of those in the business community with the 2004 publication of their book, The Future of Competition: Co-Creating Unique Value with Customers.
[23] Results directly related to integrating co-design into existing frameworks is "researchers and practitioners have seen that co-creation practiced at the early front end of the design development process can have an impact with positive, long-range consequences.
The automation introduced by system design has created concerns within unions and workers as it threatened their involvement in production and their ownership over their work situation.
Major international organizations such as Project for Public Spaces create opportunities for rigorous participation in the design and creation of place, believing that it is the essential ingredient for successful environments.
Rather than simply consulting the public, PPS creates a platform for the community to participate and co-design new areas, which reflect their intimate knowledge.
The Talbot Reserve in the suburb of St. Kilda faced numerous problems of use, such as becoming a regular spot for sex workers and drug users to congregate.
Instead of having each construction project solely meet the needs of the individual, public interest design addresses wider social issues at their core.
For example: Co-op 3d-design program can let multiple people design at same time, but does not have support for guided help – tell the other guy what to do through markings and text, without talking to the person.
The high time and financial costs make research and development of participatory design less appealing for speculative investors.
[31] Addressing these differing priorities may involve finding creative solutions that balance the needs of all stakeholders, such as using low-cost materials that meet functional requirements while also being aesthetically pleasing.
"[10] "[The future of] co-designing will be a close collaboration between all the stakeholders in the design development process together with a variety of professionals having hybrid design/research skills.
"[7] Recent scholarship has highlighted the complex emotional landscape navigated by researchers engaged in participatory design, especially in contexts involving vulnerable or marginalized communities.
Emotional challenges such as guilt and shame often emerge as researchers confront the disparity between their professional objectives and the lived realities of the communities they engage with.
The ethical dilemmas associated with balancing research agendas, funding constraints, and community needs can create a conflict between professional obligations and personal commitments, potentially leading to emotional burnout or moral distress.
Consequently, there is a growing call within the field for frameworks that address these emotional aspects, advocate for ethical reflexivity, and promote sustained engagement strategies that align more closely with community well-being and autonomy.
Portland, Oregon City Repair Project[35] is a form of participatory design, which involves the community co-designing problem areas together to make positive changes to their environment.
In Malawi, a UNICEF WASH programme trialled participatory design development for latrines in order to ensure that users participate in creating and selecting sanitation technologies that are appropriate and affordable for them.
The process provided an opportunity for community members to share their traditional knowledge and skills in partnership with designers and researchers.
It borrows organizational ideas from the open-source software movement, so that knowledge about construction methods and urban design schemes is freely exchanged.
Participatory work in software development has historically tended toward two distinct trajectories, one in Scandinavia and northern Europe, and the other in North America.
The Scandinavian and northern European tradition has remained closer to its roots in the labor movement (e.g., Beck, 2002; Bjerknes, Ehn, and Kyng, 1987).
Applying PR and PAR research methods seeks to engage communities and question power hierarchies, which "makes us aware of the always contingent character of our presumptions and truths... truths are logical, contingent and intersubjective... not directed toward some specific and predetermined end goal... committed to denying us the (seeming) firmness of our commonsensical assumptions".