Melting Pot: Co-Designing a Digital Compass for Migrants
Project Description
Participatory Design with Migrant Communities for Web Extension Development focuses on addressing the integration challenges faced by migrants in their new environments. Vulnerable groups, such as migrants, are often involved in data collection but excluded from the design process, which limits the effectiveness of solutions intended to help them. This project, therefore, explores a participatory design (PD) approach where the migrant community is actively engaged in the co-design of a web extension aimed at easing their integration.
The web extension tool developed through this project assists migrants in overcoming some of the primary challenges they encounter, such as language barriers, by providing interactive features and step-by-step guidance tailored to their needs. This project also investigates the complexities of conducting participatory design in an online environment, particularly when language barriers are present.
Key Features:
- Community-Centered Co-Design: Migrants directly participated in the design process, ensuring the tool meets their actual needs.
- Web Extension Development: A tool was created from scratch to highlight useful elements on web pages, aiding in navigation and understanding.
- PD in an Online Environment: The project examined how participatory design could be adapted to an online format to include migrant communities despite the challenges of language barriers.
Development Approach
The project was structured around participatory design, where migrant communities played a central role in each stage of the design process.
Participatory Design Process:
- Identify and Define: Data collection focused on the challenges migrants face when integrating into a new environment. This information was used to categorize and prioritize the issues to be addressed in the design.
- Co-Design Sessions: Two activities were conducted:
- Activity 1: Participants were grouped to brainstorm features for their ideal solution.
- Activity 2: A collaborative user journey was designed, allowing participants to tweak the step-by-step process of the tool.
- Thematic Analysis: The researchers performed a thematic analysis of the data collected during the workshops to inform the development and ensure the tool addressed the most critical challenges.
- Implementation: The tool was built using DOM manipulation to highlight important web elements that migrants could use for navigation and integration tasks.
Outcomes and Impact
The project succeeded in developing a web extension tailored to the needs of migrants through co-design. Key outcomes include:
- Migrants’ Involvement: By directly involving migrant communities, the project ensured the development of a tool that was aligned with their needs and challenges.
- Empowering the Community: The participatory design process empowered migrants by including them in the decision-making and design phases.
- Web Extension Development: A functional web extension prototype was created to help migrants navigate online resources and assist with their integration process.
Conclusion
This project demonstrates the effectiveness of participatory design in developing tools that closely align with the needs of vulnerable groups, such as migrants. By involving the community directly in the design process, the resulting product is both useful and empowering. This approach highlights the broader value of participatory design in addressing complex social challenges.
Contributors
- SH Student: Saumya Tiwari
- Supervisor: Dr Abd Alsattar Ardati and Dr Angela Miguel
Artefact(s)
Migrant Web Extension Prototype: A tool designed to assist migrants with online navigation and integration, co-designed with the target community through participatory design methodologies.