ARH 512 Participatory Design

Participatory Design is key to creating equity. Working with residents and community, you will develop tools for collaborative decision-making that address the needs of diverse users by putting your communication techniques, design skills, and research methodologies into practice in a real-life project.

For more information, visit the B. Lab Community Design page

Course Learning Outcomes

• Develop skills for deep listening and for co-creating with community members
• Apply field research methods to document patterns of human behavior and identify unmet programmatic needs
• Create interactive design and communication tools for community members to share their lived experiences
• Incorporate awareness of power imbalance in evaluating design proposals
• Exhibit professionalism and accountability during service project events

NAAB Criteria

• PC 8 Social Equity and Inclusion How the program furthers and deepens students’ understanding of diverse cultural and social contexts and helps them translate that understanding into built environments that equitably support and include people of different backgrounds, resources, and abilities.