Ideation and ability: when actions speak louder than words
Abstract
We present an approach and examples of design artefacts from on-going work on how children with profound disabilities can participate in formative design processes. It involves the pedagogical use of digitally interactive multisensory environments. Rather than mimic participatory design from more symmetrical contexts, we address potentials in the situation at hand as well as the key issues of voice by proxy and thinking in deficits. Our design artefacts draw on the rich heritage of tangible design experiments cherishing the generative qualities embodied in human actions. The inspiring actions of the children take centre stage in cross disciplinary design efforts by means of a) long term involvement, where b) designerly understandings of qualities emerge through 'questioning' by series of truly interactive yet deliberately basic tangible design artefacts, c) staging extensive video coverage of the children's action as the pivotal point of ideation, and d) an open mind-set thinking in potentials and working by wonderings rather than fixed judgments.
