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Participatory design processes can entail involving individuals, groups, and communities in joint inquiry to deliberate on their current situation, imagine alternative futures, and forge possible collaborations. Relational sensitivity – drawing attention to relationships in a given situation – is important when staging (i.e., organising and designing for) and facilitating joint inquiry. It is a valuable concept with which to illuminate and discuss contingent circumstances that may arise and, more generally, to support participation in joint inquiry. 

This PhD thesis explores and develops views of and a vocabulary for discussing relational sensitivity so as to support practitioners in staging joint inquiry. The thesis includes both a literature review and practice-based studies, applying a research through design approach to discuss relational sensitivity. The practice-based studies examine two participatory design processes: the collaborative designing of a communal space with university students, and the development of shared practices and rituals in a co-working space with professionals from the public sector. The practice-based studies also include nine design experiments in which situations for joint inquiry have been staged in academic contexts and in a museum. Through the literature- and practice-based studies, the thesis addresses two research questions: “How can relational sensitivity be understood when staging situations for joint inquiry?” and “How can the study of relational sensitivity inform practitioners when staging situations for joint inquiry?” Research methods include the use of field notes, journal notes, collective analysis, audio- and video-recordings, and questionnaires.

The results include three perspectives from which to understand relational sensitivity when staging joint inquiry: sensitivity to self (e.g., reflexivity, self-awareness, and embodied awareness), sensitivity to intersubjective dynamics (e.g., attunement and responsiveness to group dynamics, affect, emotions, values, trust, and power dynamics), and sensitivity to materiality and process (e.g., the roles of materials, artefacts, and activities in reflection, social cohesion, and diverse contexts, and the role of the body in power dynamics). While relational sensitivity is primarily discussed in relation to practitioners – i.e., those staging joint inquiry – this thesis also discusses the importance of cultivating participants’ awareness of the self and others when staging joint inquiry to collectively support participation.

Overall, this research contributes to the research fields of innovation and design and of participatory design by developing knowledge of relational sensitivity and its role in staging situations for joint inquiry. It provides insights into how practitioners can develop, discuss, and study their relational sensitivity and support participants in participatory design processes.

Poise-self-awareness of how one is and acts, and punctuation-attunement to relational dynamics, describe integral relational sensitivities for practitioners in Participatory Design (PD). These concepts describe important personal and embodied "practices of readiness"for participating in contingent and relational processes of designing with others. However, more attention on these "practices of readiness"is required in design research and design training to better comprehend and develop relevant relational sensitivity and competences. Through an empirical study, this paper explores what relational sensitivity i.e., poise and punctuation, could be in a participatory practice and what it can do for the process. The paper also explores ways in which relational sensitivity could be nurtured through participatory practices. This research contributes to PD literature by connecting concepts related to relational sensitivity with an empirical study, elaborating on the role of relational sensitivity in PD practice. 

In the design research community, diverse narratives and ontologies are discussed in relation to sustainability. Relational ontology is proposed as an alternative to the dominant dualist ontology as a way to reconnect people with their ecological embeddedness and responsibility. This work presents a dialogical tool called 'teatime' created to introduce diverse, immaterial perspectives on sustainability in a co-design project with youth and researchers. The study explores the role of the teatime design in eliciting diverse narratives and forming a dialogical space. The results show that the teatime supported reflections on immaterial perspectives, bringing out relational and social values related to the ecological crises. This study uses a systematic evaluation to reveal a micro-material perspective on ways in which the teatime design and facilitation supported the inquiry process. We propose that the design practitioners take on the role of crafting dialogical spaces that support social relationships and evoke immaterial perspectives.

This book is about the Carbon Dioxide Theatre project, in which we explored how participatory theatre and participatory design can be used in a museum to create engagement with climate issues.

The Carbon Dioxide Theatre project focused on young people’s ability to reflect on and critically review social norms and practices around climate targets and carbon dioxide emissions, although the process affected all participants. Objects from the museum’s existing collections were central to the project to create reflections on past and present social norms.

With this text, we want to inspire you to explore how museums can develop new ways of working with collections and communication related to our cultural heritage and contemporary global challenges.

In the text, we have mixed descriptions of the process and the methods with personal stories from us in the project in order to share as many different perspectives of the project as possible with you. We hope that you will get inspired!

Hur kan teater och design användas på ett museum för att skapa engagemang för jordens klimat?

Den här boken handlar om projektet Koldioxidteater där vi undersökte den frågan. Koldioxidteater på Västmanlands läns museum var ett projekt som förenade ungdomar, museipersonal, forskare, skådespelare och andra intresserade. Projektet fokuserade på att stödja unga människors förmåga att reflektera över och kritiskt granska sociala normer och praxis kring klimatmål och koldioxidutsläpp. Föremål från museets samlingar, utställningar och museets pedagogiska rekvisita var centrala i projektet för att stödja reflektionerna över sociala normer.

Unga människor var vår målgrupp men processen visade sig påverka alla deltagare och museet på olika sätt. Med den här boken vill vi inspirera dig till att utforska hur museer kan utveckla nya sätt att arbeta tillsammans med besökare för att ta sig an samtidens globala utmaningar. I texten har vi blandat beskrivningar av projektet, processen och metoderna med personliga berättelser från oss som deltog för att kunna dela så många olika perspektiv av projektet som möjligt med dig. Vi hoppas att du ska bli inspirerad att utveckla arbetssätt och metoder vidare!

Positioned within the research program and subject area of Innovation and Design, this research focuses on the relationship between tools and joint inquiry. Joint inquiry – the collaborative exploration and definition of problems and possible solutions – plays an important part in Participatory Design processes. Tools, usually involving the making or using of artefacts in workshops, are developed and used to support joint inquiry between different actors. The aim of this research is to contribute to the deliberate design and systematic evaluation of tools for joint inquiry. This work addresses the literature gap comprising a lack of systematic evaluations in Participatory Design research and a need to evaluate designed activities and environments in relation to emerging designer-participant collaborations.

This research is a starting point towards developing a systematic approach for designing tools for joint inquiry and introduces two frameworks for this purpose. The first is the Communities of Inquiry framework, from the field of computer-mediated communication in distance education, which is used to identify indicators in joint inquiry. The second framework is a categorisation used to distinguish different aspects of a tool. Combining the two frameworks aids the understanding of the relationships between tools and indicators for joint inquiry. A Research through Design and Research for Design approach is used to study conversations between people and in interaction with tools. Nine design experiments are described, all of which involve the design and testing of tools to support the initiation of joint inquiry. The tools were primarily created and tested within an academic context with design students and researchers, with a focus on the topic of co-production – that is, close collaboration between academia and external actors. One tool was created and used within a museum with youth and researchers.

The results from the design experiments show that the tools supported the Communities of Inquiry indicators in the following ways: eliciting metaphors stimulated humour and encouraged contributions, renegotiating artefacts provoked brainstorming, commensality promoted phatic communication and humour, the relationship between material properties and metaphors prompted problem recognition, and formats directed towards personal experiences led to self-disclosure and emotional expression. The tools were a hinderance to the Communities of Inquiry framework when there was dominant participation and when the tools were considered to be inappropriate for certain work contexts. Future research will continue to develop means of systematically evaluating and designing tools that support communicative practices in Participatory Design processes.

This pilot study examines how design students comprehend collaborations with external organizations— the roles and involvement of different actors in a design process. The study looks at two undergraduate courses where a total of 33 design students collaborate with a municipality and governmental agency. Data focuses on the students' terminology in regard to the external organizations and is collected through questionnaires, voice recording, workshops and written assignments. The data analysis is both quantitative and qualitative, focusing on the word frequency and semantics of the terminology. The results show that the students were not used to working closely to external organizations. This is reflected in the prevalent use of the term "client" instead of "collaborative partner". Not working closely with organizations nor users is reflected in the students’ inabilities to handle the complexities that emerge when working with multiple stakeholder and users. At the end of the paper, suggestions are made of ways to develop students’ comprehension of ways to involve external organizations and users in the design process.

Collaborating with society (businesses, industry and municipalities) is a common practice for many universities today. To support such collaborations, there is a need to share and evaluate these practices. This research explores the use of creative and visual methods from Participatory Design to support reflective practice in university-society collaborations. The paper describes an exploratory workshop consisting of an abstract collage-making exercise and a list of questions. The purpose of this workshop is to see how the visual exercise could support discussions about university- society collaborations and to develop future studies. The results from the workshop show that using abstract collages generated multiple interpretations and metaphors about the visualized collaborations. The collage-making exercise prompted discussions about the interrelationship between collaboration, innovation processes and knowledge creation. It also stimulated playful interactions between participants. Moreover, the workshop participants gave valuable feedback on how to develop materials and questions to discuss university- society collaborations.

The Knowledge Triangle Cards (KT Cards) is an educational tool designed for a pilot course at Mälardalen University which aims to help students to contextualize studies to global and national societal needs and to collaborate more closely with society (business and municipalities). The aim is to have students become better at choosing assignments, projects and thesis topics that tie in closer to the labour market and societal needs. The KT Cards are based on a traditional deck of cards and the suits represent different aspects of the knowledge context: opportunity, process, outcome, and stakeholder. Additionally, a set of gamified and non-gamified exercises were designed to prompt reflection and discussion about how student projects incorporate these aspects. A pilot study was carried out in order to test and develop the educational tools and future studies. A total of 24 students and teachers participated and data was collected through observations and feedback from participants. The study indicates that the gamified activities could influence reflection and discussion by speeding up pace of the activity and affecting group dynamics. Two aspects were identified as potentially prompting gamification-shorter time frames and having multiple groups completing the activities. Further studies will look more closely at these aspects for designing gamification and how this affects discussion. The next design iteration will implement minor changes to the visual design of the cards and review how the prototype could provide students with know-how on university-society collaborations and a deeper understanding of the Knowledge Triangle concept.