Research & Design through Community Informatics

Lessons from Participatory Engagement with Seniors

Cristhian Parra, Vincenzo D’Andrea and David HakkenCommunity Informatics Research Network Conference

October 14th, 2014

Community for Research and Design

Deep Trust Approach

Participatory Engagement

Research and Design with the community

Lessons Learned• In searching for social interaction opportunities, we

had, inadvertently, created one. We were doing community informatics without knowing, developing a deep trust with the community.

• Research & Design activities became community offerings: the community appropriated them as part of the community activities and this was fundamental for the project to continue

• The community shaped and reshaped the project as it proceeded, and required us to assemble a multidisciplinary team and to develop interdisciplinary skills.

Lessons Learned• A deep trust approach by which researchers/designers

come to be part of the community themselves highlight the promise of CI research that directly benefits communities by building and reinforcing them.

• This kind of project can help to achieve community (i.e., to form, build, and sustain it). Fostering active ageing is one domain to which this is relevant; fostering civic participation may be another.

• The long-term engagement engendered by deep trust projects open doors to other research projects and future collaborations, some independent of the initial researchers.

Questions• Sustainability. How can community-based research and

design become sustainable in time, even after researchers are no longer there?

• Exit from the community. Do you really ever exit the community you have befriended?

• Generalization. How much can grounded theory constructed from these contexts be generalized?

• Participatory Design. How can the experiences of CIRN and PD communities can help each others in supporting more of these projects?

Design through Community Informatics

Social Informatics

CIHuman

Computer Interactions

Participatory Design through CI

ThanksQuestions, suggestions, ideas. All welcomed