(Lay) PD in the small: Everyday grassroot innovations

The current society can be associated with such terms as information and technology winners, expert systems, and ‘know-how’. While members’ active participation has been seen as important, neither the shift from information usage to information technology (IT) usage is fully understood, nor is the source of innovation. In this paper, a framework for studying grassroot innovating conditions is developed and applied to a (lay) participatory design (PD) in a non-profit community. As a grassroot innovation, this self-developed IT setup is epitomizing natural activity systems where PD in the small joins wider systems design. From the viewpoint of grassroot actors, different IT setups and conditions influence and produce different innovationing. This is an important consideration for the design of collaborative systems and for informing related IT practices.