Participatory Design and Participative Practices in Small Companies

Abstract

Small companies are mISSing from the literature of Participatory Design. Yet participative practices are important in the design of any job. This paper considers the relations between the work practices and technology needs of small companies, and the discourses of Participatory Design. Because small companies use off-theshelf technology, these relations are shaped by the geographic and cultural separation between the situation of use and the situation of design. User participation focuses on shopping decisions, and the fitting of purchased technology to the local work situation. While many aspects of job design can be extremely flexible within small companies, participation in the design of computer systems is bounded by the available products, and the options for continuing design-in-use that are embedded within them.