Because empathy isn't enough

Below is a presentation Catherine gave at ID24 - an inclusive design conference.

A description of the talk: Participation in the design process by people with lived experience is essential for ethical and sustainable measures. At the same time, it is not enough to invite people to participate without considering power and the methods needed to help reconfigure power throughout the research process. “Participation is by definition power-laden” (Pettit, 2021, p.277).

There are varying degrees to which people with lived experience are asked to participate in design processes. On one end of the participation continuum people with lived experience partake as subjects of the research as interviewees. On the other end, lived experience experts are active participants of the design team. We have seen that it is not enough to invite people to participate without considering power and the methods needed to help reconfigure power throughout the design process. This talk will cover how to go beyond performative or tokenistic participation to meaningful participation.