This is not quite a timeline — because many of the folks who started in this field of “co-design” are still going — this is selection of the most fascinating folks paving the way to what we call co-design today.
Let’s start with where it all started for White people, back in the 70’s. Cooperative design or “Scandinavian” for short.
“Participation is a fundamental process, not only for democracy, but also for learning”
Bødker et al. (2000)
Cooperative design (sometimes called participatory design) emerged in Norway during the early 1970’s in response to the changing roles of workers as computers and machinery were introduced.
Cooperative design was the first well documented example of designers and researchers working together to create environments for generative research by making things together (prototyping).
They created tools and activities to allow for workers, unions, workplaces and government departments to design software, working conditions and staff support services.
Power imbalances and hierarchical relationships between participants are documented in cooperative design papers, highlighting how participation in design is a political act.
Projects from 70’s-80’s include Norwegian Iron and Metal Workers Union (NJMF), DEMOS, DUE and Utopia.
If you want to learn more look into Susanne Bødker, Pelle Ehn, Dan Sjögren, Yngve Sundblad Kristen Nygaard, Olav-Terje Bergo, Åke Sandberg, Morten Kyng, Lars Mathiassen, and Niels Erik Andersen
Key concepts, tools and techniques: ‘designing-by-doing’, ‘mock-up envisionment’, future workshops, organisational games, mock-up design, co-operative prototyping, ethnographic field research, and democratic dialogue, low fidelity prototyping
📖 Read more
- Scandinavian Approaches to Participatory Design*
- UTOPIA: Participatory Design from Scandinavia to the World
- A Framework for User Participation in Design Processes
🎦 Watch
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