User-Involved Design for Direct Citizen Participation in Policymaking

Abstract

This research attempts to identify the adaptive values and conditions shared by user-involved design (UID) and direct citizen participation (DCP) in a policymaking context. As a conceptual embarkation point, this research will help bring design values to participatory policymaking. A deductive content analysis of the relevant literature was conducted to extract, group and compare the respective requirements of DCP and UID. These requirements were then classified by function, objective and domain and finally categorized into common ground, adaptive values and adaptive conditions. The common ground belongs to both DCP and UID and is concerned with sensitizing the participants to achieve basic understanding. The adaptive values, which are distinct requirements of UID, promote generative thinking. The adaptive conditions, which emerged from specific context of DCP, require a democratic process and promote citizen awareness. The research’s main contribution is in identifying the conceptual values and conditions for applying participatory design methods and approaches to the public policy context.