Details on Extending the Meta-Design Theory: Results from Participant Observation of Active Contributors in Virtual Worlds

Meta-design has emerged as a theoretical framework by supporting open systems that allow end-users to become designers in dynamic use contexts. Complex individual user goals which are embedded in social structures create these dynamics. Like many design theories, meta-design relies on pragmatic examples to extend and justify the theoretical foundations. Current examples of meta-design provide a basis for the theory by exemplifying core concepts, such as designing convivial tools, supporting human problemdomain interaction, creating open, evolvable system, and fostering collaborative work processes. Our research is grounded in the objectives that (1) the metadesign theory can inform the design of virtual worlds, and that, in return, (2) observations and insights from virtual worlds can broaden the meta-design theory. Based on interviews and ethnographic-style investigations of (1) a gaming-oriented virtual world and (2) an open-ended virtual world, we show that virtual worlds can serve as valuable application domain for studying, exemplifying, and extending the meta-design theory and practice.