Collaborative Speculations on Future Themes for Participatory Design in Germany

Abstract

Participatory Design means recognizing that those who will be affected by a future technology should have an active say in its creation. Yet, despite continuous interest in involving people as future users and consumers into designing novel and innovative future technology, participatory approaches in technology design remain relatively underdeveloped in the German HCI community. This article brings together the diversity of voices, domains, perspectives, approaches, and methods that collectively shape Participatory Design in Germany. In the following, we (1) outline our understanding of participatory practice and how it is different from mere user involvement; (2) reflect current issues of participatory and fair technology design within the German Participatory Design community; and (3) discuss tensions relevant to the field, that we expect to arise in the future, and which we derived from our 2021 workshop through a speculative method. We contribute an introduction and an overview of current themes and a speculative outlook on future issues of Participatory Design in Germany. It is meant to inform, provoke, inspire and, ultimately, invite participation within the wider Computer Science community.