Facilitation Skills in Participatory Design

The democratic and emancipatory principles underpinning Participatory Design (PD) set PD methodology apart from other user-oriented design methodologies associated with Human-Computer Interaction. In turning PD principles into practice, PD facilitators play a vital role. However, at present, there is a lack of understanding regarding skills relevant to enacting the role. To address this issue, we present the results from an interview study involving fourteen respondents with considerable PD facilitation experience. The analysis of the interviews uncovered six facilitation skills of perceived relevance: openness, patience, empathy, attentiveness, responsiveness, and adaptiveness. The significance of each skill, as expressed by respondents, is accounted for. We further discuss the composition of skills in the derived skill set, possible implications of missing skills, and how the findings complement relevant existing work. Drawing on the findings, the paper offers an empirically based qualitative understanding of what constitutes skillful PD facilitation.