5 Things with Caroline Sinders, machine-learning-design researcher and artist

Sasha Costanza-Chock’s fantastic book Design Justice unpacks the methodology and some case studies from the Design Justice network, and they wrote a chapter on the draw backs from participatory design. Participatory design isn’t a panacea, and does create some gaps that have to be acknowledged in order for participatory design to create equity. Costanza-Chock notes that communities often already have created design solutions to problems; that participatory design needs to be non-extractive; that groups build with and not for; and that some of the guidelines on inclusivity are being created by companies like Airbnb or Google, but often participatory design is given a kind of utopian gleaning that doesn’t necessarily reflect back on itself. Meaning, participatory design doesn’t naturally bring in self criticism. For participatory design to work it should acknowledge power asymmetries between the communities and the practitioners guiding the design process. It’s important to note that designers or organizers who are using participatory design can accidentally make decisions that weaken or take the teeth out of social justice. After considering who gets listened to, who feels comfortable making statements, and balancing feedback by a dominant group at odds with a vulnerable group: does meeting in the middle really solve for social justice?