And this is where we fu***d up! Lessons learned from Participatory Design in Digital Civic Initiatives

TL;DR

The paper addresses the problem that participatory design in digital civics often encounters unforeseen outcomes and failures that are underexplored. It presents a half-day, case-based, participatory workshop design that uses small-group analyses, plenary sharing, and online continuation to surface failures, root causes, and remedial strategies, including wellbeing considerations. The key contributions are a structured workshop framework, discussion prompts, and a pathway to translate failure-informed insights into more resilient PD practices and future civic initiatives within sociotechnical infrastructures. The work aims to foster cross-disciplinary dialogue, build durable networks among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, and disseminate lessons through a journal article, workshop website, and ongoing forum for broader impact.

Abstract

Participatory design in digital civics aims to foster mutual learning and co-creation between public services and citizens. However, rarely do we collectively explore the challenges and failures we experience within PD and digital civics, to enable us to grow as a community. This workshop will explore real-world experiences that had to adapt to unforeseen circumstances. Through case presentations and thematic group discussions, participants will reflect on the challenges faced, the causes that led to these challenges, and collaboratively problem-solve effective solutions. Furthermore, we aim to discuss well-being impact on researchers and communities when faced with these obstacles, the strategies participants use to overcome them and how this can be fed back into the digital civics community. By that, the workshop seeks to foster dialogue, reflection, and collective learning, empowering participants with insights to navigate complexities effectively and promote resilient design practices in digital civics.