ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI) are seeking original contributions for a Special Issue of TOCHI on Reimagining Participatory Design (PD). In particular, we seek research contributions that address the potentials and failures of participatory design in pursuing its democratizing project in emerging Information Technology (IT) domains. We solicit research papers that open up new horizons in Participatory Design for the field, or critically examine successes and failures of the past. Conceptual, methodological, and empirical papers are welcome.

In recent years Participatory Design often seems to have become synonymous with a more neutral form of ‘user-centered’ design, concentrating on more local issues of usability and user satisfaction—in sharp contrast to earlier work in the field, where Participatory Design not only sought to incorporate users in design, but also to intervene upon situations of conflict through developing more democratic processes.

This special issue extends an invitation to think boldly about the future of participatory design.

Key topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

How are Information Technology systems today embedded in, or embodying, political conflicts such that Participatory Design could make a positive contribution?

 
What is (or should be) the role of Participatory Design in new computing contexts, including makers, ubiquitous computing, robotics, Internet of Things, cultural and creative industries, and other emerging trends?

 
How do we make sense of, and enact change in global coordination protocols that embody problematic power relations and scant worker protection? (e.g., crowdsourcing models such as Amazon Mechanical Turk.)

In what ways has participatory design failed to give voice to the marginal? How has it ignored, coopted, homogenized marginal voices? How might it do better?

How does, should, or could Participatory Design intersect with critical design, speculative design, feminist HCI, action research, design fictions, HCI for peace, and so forth?

How can Participatory Design help designers move from helping people do what they are already doing towards helping them make better decisions in future projects?

Deadline

January 5, 2017: Abstract Due

We strongly recommend submitting your abstract to the special issue editors at reimaginingpd@gmail.com. 

Jan 23, 2017: Submit Full Manuscript at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tochi.

For additional details of the anticipated reviewing and publication timeline, see

http://tochi.acm.org/re-imagining-participatory-design/