Children's Perspectives on Ethical Issues Surrounding Their Past Involvement on a Participatory Design Team

Abstract

Participatory Design (PD) gives users a voice in the design of technologies they are meant to use. When PD methods are adapted for research with children, design teams need to address additional issues of ethical accountability (e.g., adult-child power relations). While researchers have taken measures to ensure ethical accountability in PD research with children, to our knowledge there has been no work examining how former child design partners view ethical issues surrounding their participation. In this work we ask: How do children view ethical issues around their role on Participatory Design teams? We present findings from surveys and interviews with 12 former child design partners. Findings, identified by the former participants themselves, outline: (i) balancing attribution and anonymity, (ii) promoting ongoing consent and dissent, and (iii) cultivating a balanced design partnership. From these findings we recommend practices for researchers and designers of children's technologies that align with participant views.