‘ARE WE DOING IT RIGHT? EXPLORING HOW TO CONDUCT ETHICAL DESIGN RESEARCH AND PRACTICE WHEN WORKING WITH VULNERABLE PARTICIPANTS’

As designing with vulnerable users becomes more prevalent, we need to establish guidelines to ensure ethical practices to protect both participant and researcher. Current research would advocate that design research should be conducted with end user groups to ensure that solutions developed meet the needs and expectations of those most impacted by the issues. This approach, however, may not always be ethical or appropriate in design projects at undergraduate (UG) level. Along with many of the standard ethical considerations when conducting research with vulnerable groups there are additional considerations when developing design solutions. Many design projects never reach fruition or may take years to develop a functional design requiring participant involvement over the course of the project. Student projects are not always focused on the implementation of final designs. This paper explores several case studies of UG product design projects where vulnerable participants have been involved at various stages and to varying degrees. Case study analyses follow a description of these projects. The discussion unpacks key questions such as: when is it appropriate to involve participants? What are the most useful methods to work with participants? When are alternative methods of research and testing sufficient? How can expectations be managed? And what is the payback for people to participate? The paper concludes by proposing a guide for how and when to involve users as participants in the UG design process.