Participatory IT Design: Designing for Business and Workplace Realities

by Keld Bodker, Finn Kensing, Jesper Simonsen

A state-of-the-art method for introducing new information technology systems into an organization, illustrated by case studies drawn from a ten-year research project. The goal of participatory IT design is to set sensible, general, and workable guidelines for the introduction of new information technology systems into an organization. Reflecting the latest systems-development research, this book encourages a business-oriented and socially sensitive approach that takes into consideration the specific organizational context as well as first-hand knowledge of users' work practices and allows all stakeholders—users, management, and staff—to participate in the process. Participatory IT Design is a guide to the theory and practice of this process that can be used as a reference work by IT professionals and as a textbook for classes in information technology at introductory through advanced levels. Drawing on the work of a ten-year research program in which the authors worked with Danish and American companies, the book offers a framework for carrying out IT design projects as well as case studies that stand as examples of the process. The method presented in Participatory IT Design —known as the MUST method, after a Danish acronym for theories and methods of initial analysis and design activities—was developed and tested in thirteen industrial design projects for companies and organizations that included an American airline, a multinational pharmaceutical company, a national broadcasting corporation, a multinational software house, and American and Danish universities. The first part of the book introduces the concepts and guidelines on which the method is based, while the second and third parts are designed as a practical toolbox for utilizing the MUST method. Part II describes the four phases of a design project—initiation, in-line analysis, in-depth analysis, and innovation. Part III explains the method's sixteen techniques and related representation tools, offering first an overview and then specific descriptions of each in separate sections.

356 pages, Paperback

First published September 17, 2004

Reviews

[Ioana Lily Balas · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm really not sure where I got this book from, was it part of a university course? It is written by Danish authors but at a different university than the one I attended. Was it given to be as part of a conference? I honestly don't remember.

But I'm now glad to say I have confirmed I can declutter this book safely. It genuinely brought no value to me, it was not worthwhile in the slightest, and in fact I am not sure who it is meant to serve. It is perhaps a first perspective into any sort of interaction with a company, whether it's a new employee, new customer, new provider or someone looking into how a company operates for the first time in their life. And this is also one of the reasons why I didn't like it at all - it assumes the reader is either extremely inexperienced or has an unrealistically low level of comprehension of projects, to the point that it even defines the word 'technique'. This is a common word, everyone uses it, in all different contexts including personal ones.

Apart from this, there are several more red flags. The authors describe the role of the IT designer, likening it to that of the architect. Not only is this the sole person responsible for proposing a project direction and responding to feedback, but the team of software engineers never appears. It's all about reporting up, getting the reviews of the bosses but never of those who will actually do the work. Maybe this is suitable for outsourcing, but little else, and even that I am unsure about.

Not only is the content severely missing, with very little applicable advice, the text is painfully dry. There is an art to writing non-fiction where you can be both informative and delight the reader. This is neither: the information is superficial and vague, and the style doesn't pull you in in the slightest. The examples are completely separate from the theory, and not precise enough to understand the application of these principles.

[Tom Quast · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book describes Participatory Design through the lens of the MUST method. It presents the reader a wide range of methods for the different phases of Participatory Design, but it is often left to the reader to put the content into perspective when applied in a non-academic context.

The Good
- Coherent book with clear structure
- Authentic, the authors want to involve users to build better software/products

The Bad
- At times too abstract and academic
- Sometimes vague and general about the presented

Conclusion
The book lives up to its title. It is a bit dry to read and some sections are unnecessarily complex, but if the reader invests time to study this book it has a lot to offer. The mentioned techniques and examples are valuable to everyone building real world systems.

[Emil Petersen · Rating 1 out of 5]

IT design is highly context dependent and as a consequence, a book trying to encompass ANY design process will be vague and general. If anything, use i as a reference to look up how to consider some aspect of your design, e.g. collection of information about the system. I have learned next to nothing reading this. The buzzword per page ratio is pretty high and you're going to wait until chapter 8 and 9 to actually get concrete tools to work with.

Not recommended.

[Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book I read touching on user-centred design principles, and in retrospect it's been an important text for me because of my ongoing career interests in the user experience/information architecture fields.

The "MUST method" makes a lot of sense, encouraging an ethnographic approach to the design and construction of systems (websites, computer software, whatever). That said, the text is a little dry and overly academic in parts (naturally, I suppose, it's an MIT Press book). But certainly an important work that started talking about the use of ethnography and the "focus on the user" long before a lot of these more popular, "sexier" UX books came around.