Enhancing commitment to participatory design initiatives
Abstract
Increased participants' commitment* to participatory design (PD) initiatives can lead to sustainability beyond the project period. Although commitment is endorsed in theory, it is often overlooked or incorrectly assumed in practice; we thus introduce a technique grounded in motivational psychology, aiming to increase commitment to individual goals that contribute to a common group goal within a PD initiative. We present a case study of unemployed youth, participating in the design of an appropriate localized technology adoption strategy. A commitment workshop attempted to align individual goals and actions of the participants to enhance group achievement and extend individual commitment and activities beyond the project. A follow-up three months after the workshop indicates sustained commitment among participants. We conclude that the technique is viable in establishing participants' commitment, yet needs further refinements informed by more empirical work.
