Participatory Design and Communication in Virtual Environments

There are numerous approaches and techniques for establishing a virtual environment for participatory design. The most common approach is to extend the personal computer desktop environment to include tools for meeting and sharing files and making those files available to all those involved in the design development. This approach takes the individual work environment and adds tools for communicating with others. An alternative approach is to create a virtual world environment in which the design team meets, works, and organises the project information and models. This approach differs conceptually because it creates a sense of place that is unique to the project, sort of a shared office space. The variation in the environment effects the way in which the design ideas are communicated. We highlight the differences in communicating by talking or typing.