Participatory Design in Women’s Organizations: The Social World of Organizational Structure and the Gendered Nature of Expertise

• Published in: Gender, Work & Organization
• Main Author: Balka, Ellen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1997
• Subjects: Canada; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-0432.00027; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2F1468-0432.00027; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1468-0432.00027

Participatory design is an approach to designing technological systems that differs from traditional approaches to design in many respects. The goal of participatory design is to encourage users of technological systems to actively participate in the process of designing technological systems. The end goal of participatory design is to enable users of technological systems to articulate their needs, and to develop technological systems that account for those needs. In this paper I attempt to extend the analysis of gender as a factor in participatory design initiative by focusing on the challenges of implementing participatory design in the context of non‐profit women’s organizations. The context for my discussion is set by outlining a recent initiative to design a nationwide feminist computer network in Canada. Scholarship on participatory design, feminist organizing and the implementation of computer systems in non‐profit organizations is discussed in relation to original research carried out in the Canadian province of Newfoundland. Organizational structures that differentiate feminist non‐profit organizations from other organizational forms and the gendered nature of expertise are identified as particular challenges that must be addressed in order for participatory design to be successful when women’s groups are the participatory designers.