How Could Participatory Design be Catalyzed by Social Media? Improving Co-Design Efficiency and Effectiveness

Abstract

With the development of the Internet and information technology, online participation is becoming an important gateway for civic engagement. Social media, with the ability to mobilize people without minimal time and spatial limitations, has been increasingly integrated into participatory design projects in recent years. However, the actual ways in which social media help improve the efficiency or effectiveness of participatory design still needs more discussion. This thesis examines two cases of community engagement projects in Seattle incorporating social media for engaging the public, combined with several in-depth interviews with related stakeholders, and looks through existing social media applications for civic engagement. This research suggests that for projects with different scales and engagement purposes, social media should be used differently. In addition, when and how social media should be utilized for getting public input is discussed. Finally, targeting the weakness of current public participation with social media, a public engagement roadmap for using social media is proposed, which offers guidance of designing public participation from examining the project to picking the appropriate social media.