Participatory methods for inclusive and contextual research

The shift in research methods 

In a previous article my colleague Nicola discussed how User Research methods across the industry shifted online during the pandemic, but have yet to shift back as the world returns to a new normal. 

Many of the methods that were commonplace prior to the pandemic, are participatory research methods. These have their background in social research, design research and arts-based practices. They enable collaboration with participants in creative and inclusive ways. They include observation, shadowing, interviewing people in context, mapping, diary studies and distributed activities such as cultural probes 

What is the value of these methods to those of us that work in public service development? Why should we seek to use these methods more, when the argument for online methods such as interviews is often that they are cost effective, quicker, easier to recruit and allow for easier observation? 

Participatory methods are more inclusive and increase a participant’s agency 

User-centred design is founded on the belief that those who are impacted by a service have a right to be included in its development; yet in public service design, we often face challenges to engage all user groups. Online and remote methods can be more inclusive, and enable access to more users, for example; a surgeon who cannot take a full day to attend a workshop. However, the increase in remote and online ways of working as a singular research method is not inclusive. Some people are unable, or do not want to participate using these methods.  

If we broadened our idea of exclusion, then inclusion using participatory approaches could look like: 

• Offering non digital methods for those not comfortable in online spaces or who do not have access through digital devices 

• Doing research in community spaces and working to build relationships with people over longer time periods 

• Providing alternative, visual ways for participants who lack confidence with words to respond and share their experiences, thoughts, desires and emotions  

• Allowing people to show rather than tell and use their context to share their experience.  

• Giving people agency to represent themselves in ways meaningful to them by allowing time and space to reflect and craft their own narrative and share what is most important to them. 

Participatory methods can be creative, engage the senses and are fun 

There is a huge diversity of participatory methods, but something that unites many of them is that they engage a person’s senses. Participatory methods that involve an element of drawing or making such as storyboarding or collages, or building such as Lego serious play, encourage us to use other parts of our brain, bring a childlike sense of curiosity, have fun with what we’re doing. These methods  support a participant’s ability to tell stories and connect to deeper levels of knowledge and memory. Rather than recall alone, participants create something to talk to or about and externalise their experience. 

Because participatory methods often borrow from other disciplines they might use elements of game play or theatre to encourage people outside of their comfort zone to feel more creative. This supports a participants ability to tell a story, and you learn unexpected and surprising things about people. 

Participatory methods provide contextual insight  

All products and service (both digital and non-digital) are used within the context of people’s lives, which are largely offline and multifaceted. Understanding this context is essential in user research, and a research approach which allows a participant to use or refer to their context is often beneficial. For example, conducting a contextual interview will help to spark a participants memories and allow them to show rather than tell. From a researchers perspective, spending time in context using methods such as journey alongs or shadowing gives us a degree of firsthand experience this allows us to connect with, and have a greater understanding and empathy for the topic. We will also experience things which may be complex or hard to articulate in words.  

At NEC Digital Studio, we are starting to integrate participatory methods back into our ways of working through:

• Working with our bid writing teams to build these methods into our proposition with clients and challenge a single method interview approach.  

• Upskilling in house, providing space to refresh our skills and allowing junior researchers a chance to experience these methods.  

• Making our current approaches more participatory by sharing interview guides with participants upfront, doing more pre-task activities and adding elements of making, creating or mapping to online sessions and doing more work in context and communities. 

• Being a part of the conversation by speaking at conferences and meet ups. We believe that an industry wide shift is needed to truly bring these methods back into business as usual 

• Developing training, to support those who want to learn more about these methods, or improve their skills. Our course on participatory methods for research and co-design runs as a public course or can be delivered in house to your teams.