Participatory design needs participatory communication: New tools for sharing user insights in the product innovation process

This paper describes an innovative approach about sharing insights from user studies with designers. The experiences of real people concerning real product use situations are of great value for designers especially during the earlier phases of the design process. Such information needs be practically useful during idea generation. We believe that this can be realised if the tool supports communication through three qualities: by enhancing empathy, by providing inspiration, and by supporting engagement. We have developed a tool to make the receivers of the information, the designers, participative in the act of communicating. In this way they become cocreators and co-owners of the information, which may result in higher degrees of acceptance and use. The project comprised the design and testing of a tool, a set of cards based on the transcripts from individual users, augmented by cues that invite interpretation. The use of the tool was evaluated in two studies. In one study the use of the card set by designers was explored. In the other study the use of the card set was compared with the use of other tools. The results of the studies suggest that the participatory character of the tool leads designers to a deeper understanding and more intensive use of insights from user studies.