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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.