From design participation to civic participation - participatory design of a social media service

This paper describes a case study in which a social media service for civic participation was created together with its intended users. The purpose of the service was to support civic participation and integration of immigrants in Finland. Open participatory design approach was used throughout the process. This paper presents critical issues and lessons learnt during the process of working together with a heterogeneous user group and multiple partners. We claim that constant meta-level discussion about the goals and participation practices with the users is vital for the design process. When designing services for civic participation, more focus should be put on designing and testing concrete participation processes. Clear ownership and community management are needed during the design and use of the future service.