A Course on Participatory Design

This project focused on improving the subway station at the university. We wanted the station to reflect the students, research, and progress at the university. At the same time we wanted it to be entertaining and informational for students who are waiting for their train. During the workshop we used different techniques to promote creativity and ideas. The users were asked to take pictures of good and bad parts of the station. While we printed the pictures, they were to select 5 pictures from a pile that we provided them (both technical and nontechnical). They were further asked to use these pictures to generate ideas for the station and either draw or model their ideas with Lego and putty. After the design tasks, we made sure everyone got to present their work and discuss their ideas. The process lead to many new ideas that were built on each other.