Welcome to

Participatory Design Conference 2024

Sibu, Sarawak Malaysia

Reaching Out: Connecting Beyond Participation

The Participatory Design Community now looks back on three decades of research and change initiatives to allow organizations and societies to develop based on a broad set of opinions and stakeholders. In this time, the emerging Information and Communication Technologies have been both a challenging arena to maintain democratic values and an important set of tools to support initiatives for change.

The arenas around this duality of ICT potentials have changed and diversified. In many regions of the world, access to participation infrastructures-technological as well as non-technological continues to be a challenge, while in other regions issues of choice of investment in and success with change initiatives are tightly connected with living socio-technical infrastructures from Open-Source-Platforms over Makerspaces to Social Media.

Phenomena of and challenges for participation as a democratic foundation of the organization of mankind has grown past ritual modes of involving the underprivileged in (technological) projects and decisions they are affected by. It has turned into a continuous effort to improve the capacities to act towards change in an informed way. PD has been very much in the realm of academics, and practitioners, such as in areas of user experience, user

interface design, and moved into areas such as ICT4development. Yet there should be awareness and understanding from the different sectors, not only, academia and industry, also from government, NGO’s and the general public. Creating that understanding especially amongst non-traditional "connoisseurs" of PD, such as, government, will help to develop products and services which promote equity, fairness, diversity besides improving effectiveness efficiency and usability. This engagement also helps in creating opportunities to involve communities who may be underserved, such as, rural communities and poor neighbourhoods.

The capacity to find ideas, orientation, and advice for change initiatives can be improved by many academic disciplines and discourses and by experiences with a large variety of change practices and domains. It requires technological tools, interfaces, and skills as well as experiences in the social practice of communication, coordination, and community building.

It requires awareness of the political context as well as an attitude of sensitivity towards stakeholder interactions and conflict potentials. Most importantly, it requires considerations and reflections beyond the notion of participatory design as a methodology in singular projects, but as a driver in setting agendas in technology developments (such as AI), considering technical opportunities and constraints, in an effort to establish resilient initiatives and communities of change, with societal impact.

Thus, the PDC 2024 in Malaysia aims at growing new alliances with research communities and stakeholders and practitioners that allow for a structured exchange to inform change initiatives - local and global. In an effort to re-shape participation at the conference, new communication, funding and presentation models will be explored to create connections with related academic, activists as well as practitioners and interested people and communities.

Organising Committee

Conference Chairs

Heike Winchiers-Theophilus

Namibia University of Science & Technology, Namibia

Tariq Zaman

University of Technology Sarawak, Malaysia

Programme Chairs

Rogerio Abreu de Paula

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)

Vincenzo D'Andrea

University of Trento, Italy

Full Paper Chairs

Margot Brereton

Queensland University of Technology, Australia

Amanda Anne Geppert

University of Chicago,I USA

Publication Chairs

Chiara Del Gaudio

Carleton University, Canada

Mika Yasuoka JensenC

Roskilde University, Denmark

Doctoral Colloquium Chairs

Rachel Charlotte Smith

Aarhus University, Denmark

Maurizio Teli

Aalborg University, Denmark

Marcus Foth

Queensland University of Technology, Australia

‪Leonardo Parra-Agudelo

Universidad de los Andes, Colombia

Short & Exploratory Papers Chairs

Kasper Rodil

Aalborg University, Denmark

David Lamas

Tallinn University, Estonia

Situated Actions and Exhibition Chairs

Lizzete Reitsma

Malmö University, Sweden

Emily Crompton

Manchester Metropolitan University, UK

Wendy Teo

Borneo Laboratory, Malaysia

Industry Chairs

Daria Loi

AntiVirus Advanced SeT (Avast)

Eunice Sari

UX Indonesia, Indonesia

Artful Integration Chairs

Joyce Yee

Northumbria University, UK

Lale Dilbas

Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey

Workshop Chairs

Naska Goagoses

Carl von Ossietzky Universitat Oldenburg, Germany

Asnath Paula Kambunga

Aarhus University, Denmark

Daniel Tan Yong Wen

University of Technology Sarawak, Malaysia

Participation Chairs

Yoko Akama

RMIT University, Australia

Student Volunteer Chairs

Marly Muudeni Samuel

Glasgow School of Art, UK

Communication Chairs

Mariacristina Sciannamblo

Sapienza University, Italy

Yang Bong

University of Nottingham, UK

Places Chairs

Reem Talhouk

Northumbria University, UK

Shaimaa Lazem

SRTA-City, Egypt

Community Chairs

Colin Stanley

Namibia University of Science & Technology, Namibia

Gary Loh Chee Wyai

University of Technology Sarawak, Malaysia

Chris Muashekele

Aalborg University, Denmark

Local Committee Chairs

University of Technology Sarawak

Hybrid Conference Experience Chairs

Social Media and Website Team

Cheng Haw Yih (Dennis)

University of Technology Sarawak, Malaysia

Programme Committee

The Programme Committee are the large team of experts in participatory design that complete reviews and meta-reviews of submissions for Full Papers and Exploratory Papers. Their voluntary labour is key to making the PDC conference happens, and is critical to forming an exciting and rich conference programme.

Information for Programme Committee members and Reviewers

If you are new to PDC, or indeed you have been on the Programme Committee before and would like a refresh on what reviewing means for PDC, please take a look at our guide for reviewing papers for PDC. This gives an overview of what PDC reviewers are asked to look for and act like when reviewing papers, and alos gives an overview of expectations and timelines.

Alfredo Gutiérrez Borrero, Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano (COL)

Amanda Geppert, University of Chicago (USA) / IIT Institute of Design (USA)

Andrea Botero, Aalto University (FIN)

Andres Rodriguez, LIFIA Research Center – Universidad Nacional de La Plata (AR)

Andy Dearden, Sheffield Hallam University (UK)

Angus Donald Campbell, The University of Auckland (NZ)

Ann Light, University of Sussex (UK) / University of Malmö (SWE)

Anna Serravalli, Malmo University (SWE)

Brendon Clark, Umeå University (SWE)

Cally Gatehouse, Northumbria University (UK)

Carl DiSalvo, Georgia Institute of Technology (USA)

Carla Cipolla, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (BRA)

Chiara Del Gaudio, Carleton University (CAN)

Chris Elsden, University of Edinburgh (UK)

Christina Mörtberg, Linnæus University (SWE)

Christopher Frauenberger, TU Wien (AUT)

Cindy Kohtala, Aalto University (FIN)

Claudia Garduño, Design your Action (MEX)

Claus Bossen, Aarhus University (DNK)

Clementine Schelings, ITU (DNK)

Cristiaan Job Nieman Janssen, Universidad de los Andes (COL)

Cristina Dreifuss, Universidad de Lima (PER)

Cynthia Burgos López, Universidad Ana G Mendez (PRI)

Dagny Stuedahl, Oslo Metropolitan University (NOR)

Daria Loi, Mozilla Foundation (USA)

Deborah Tatar, Virginia Tech (USA)

Donna Leishman, Northumbria University (UK)

Ecivaldo Mattos, Universidade Federal da Bahia (BRA)

Emily Crompton, Manchester School of Architecture (UK)

Erik Grönvall, IT University of Copenhagen (DNK)

Eva Durall, University of Oulu (FIN)

Eva Eriksson, Aarhus University (DNK) / Chalmers University of Technology (SWE)

Faraja Teddy Igira, Institute of Finance Management (TAZ)

Finn Kensing, University of Copenhagen (DNK)

Frederick van Amstel, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (BRA)

Giacomo Poderi, IT University of Copenhagen (DNK)

Gloria Gomez, OceanBrowser (AUS)

Guilherme Englert Corrêa Meyer, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (BRA)

Hans Põldoja, Tallin University (EST)

Heike Winschiers-Theophilus, Namibia University of Science & Technology (NAM)

Helena Karasti, IT University of Copenhagen (DNK)

Imara Duarte, Federal University of Paraiba – UFPB (BRA)

Izak van Zyl, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (ZAF)

Jaz Choi, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (AUS)

Jennyfer Taylor, Australian National University (AUS)

Jesper Simonsen, Roskilde University (DNK)

Joanna Saad-Sulonen, IT University of Copenhagen (DNK)

John Vines, University of Edinburgh (UK)

Jonas Fritsch, IT University of Copenhagen (DNK)

Joon Sang Baek, Yonsei University (KOR)

Jorge Saldivar, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ESP)

Jörn Christiansson, IT University of Copenhagen (DNK)

Jose Abdelnour-Nocera, University of West London (UK)

Joyce Yee, Northumbria University (UK)

Juan Salamanca, University of Ilinois at Urbana-Champaign (USA)

Juan Sanin, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (AUS)

Kasper Rodil, Aalborg University (DNK)

Laura Ferrarello, RCA (UK)

Leonidas Koutsoumpos, National Technical University of Athens (GRE)

Lesley-Ann Noel, Stanford University (USA)

Liesbeth Huybrechts, Hasselt University (BEL)

Mamello Thinyane, United Nations University (LSO)

Marc Fabri, Leeds Beckett University (UK)

Marcus Foth, Queensland University of Technology (AUS)

Maria Cristina Ibarra, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (BRA)

Mariacristina Sciannamblo, AMARC Europe (BEL)

Mariana Amatullo, Parsons School of Design / The New School (USA)

Mariana Fonseca Braga, Lancaster University (UK)

Mariana Salgado, Finnish Immigration Service (FIN) / Universidad de Buenos Aires (ARG)

Marianne Kinnula, University of Oulu (FIN)

Markus Wernli, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (CN)

Mauricio Mejia, Arizona State University (USA)

Maurizio Teli, Aalborg University (DNK)

Mela Bettega, NOVA University of Lisbon (PT)

Melisa Duque Hurtado, Monash University (AUS)

Mercedes Martínez González, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MEX)

Mika Jensen, Roskilde University (DNK)

Naveen Bagalkot, Srishti Institute of Art, Design, & Technology (IND)

Nicholas Vanderschantz, University of Waikato (NZ)

Nicolai Hansen, Aalborg University (DNK)

Niels Hendriks, LUCA School of Arts (BEL)

Nima Herman Shidende, The University of Dodoma, Tanzania (TNZ)

Ole sejer Iversen, Aarhus University (DNK)

Olga Usachova , University of Padua (IT)

Oswald Devisch, Hasselt University (BEL)

Pablo Herrera, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (PER)

Rachel Clarke, Newcastle University (UK)

Raphael Arar, One Project (USA)

Raquel Gomes Noronha, Universidade Federal do Maranhão (BRA)

Reem Talhouk, Northumbria University (UK)

Ricardo Sosa, Auckland University of Technology (NZL)

Shana Agid, Parsons School of Design / The New School (USA)

Signe Yndigegn, IT University of Copenhagen (DNK)

Sisse Finken, IT University of Copenhagen (DNK)

Sofie Pilemalm, Linköping University (SWE)

Sucharita Beniwal, National Institute of India (IND)

Sushil K Oswal, University of Washington (USA)

Svetlana Usenyuk-Kravchuk, Tomsk State University (RU)

Teemu Leinonen, Aalto University (FIN)

Tone Bratteteig, University of Oslo (NOR)

Tristan Shchulz, Relative Creative (AUS)

Vasilis Vlachokyriakos, Newcastle University (UK)

Vincenzo D’Andrea, University of Trento (ITA)

Virginia Tassinari, LUCA School of Arts (BEL)

Yadira Ornelas, Idea Couture (MEX)

Yoko Akama, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (AUS)

Yong-Ki Lee, Dongseo University (KOR)

Zoy Anastassakis, Rio de Janeiro State University (BRA)

Angelika Strohmayer, Northumbria University (UK)

Leonardo Parra Agudelo, Universidad de los Andes (COL)

Marisol Wong-Villacres, Georgia Tech (USA)

Penny Hagen, Auckland Co-Design Lab (NZL)

Sanna Marttila, Hellon (FIN)

Selina Schepers, LUCA School of Arts (BEL)

Valentina Mejia Amezquita, Universidad Nacional de Colombia (COL)

Call for Participation

Full Papers should report on substantial and original, unpublished research that advances participatory design. Full Papers are presented in single-track sessions in the only research conference exclusively dedicated to participatory design, therefore PDC Full Papers have a broad impact on the development of PD theory, approaches and practices. Papers must present unpublished research and are not allowed to be under concurrent review with other conferences, journals, or venues.

PDC Full Papers can be submitted on any topic or issue of relevance to participatory design theory, practice or methods – however, we are especially interested in soliciting submissions that relate to the specific themes of the 2024 conference.

Important dates

3rd July 2023 - Call for Full Papers

3rd November 2023 - Submission deadline for Full Papers

11th December 2023 – Notification of first round reviews for Full Papers (Revise and Resubmit or Reject)

2nd February 2024 – Submission deadline for revised Full Papers

26th March 2024 – Final notification for all submissions (Accept or Reject)

31st May 2024 – Camera ready papers deadline for accepted submissions

Submissions and Review Process

Full Papers go through a double-blind, two-round, peer review process.

There key deadlines for Full Paper authors are:

1. The 1st deadline is on 4th December 2023, when authors are required to submit their papers. On or before 11th December, authors will be notified of the outcome of the first round of reviews: either they will be invited to improve their paper and resubmit it by 2nd February 2024 (for a second round of reviews) or their paper will be rejected at this stage. Papers invited to resubmit should be revised according to the given suggestions. Note that an invitation to ‘revise & resubmit’ is not a promise or guarantee of acceptance.

2. The 2nd deadline is 2nd February 2024, when selected authors will resubmit the improved version of their papers. Final acceptance will be communicated on 26th March 2024.

3. The 3rd and final deadline is 31st May 2024, when selected authors will submit their camera ready papers. These will then be processed to be published on the ACM Digital Library prior to the start of the conference.

Paper Formatting and Length

Papers should be submitted according to the instructions and template available on the submission page. They should be anonymised for blind peer review.

Papers should be written in English and should not be longer than 8500 words (excluding references).

Full papers will be published in Vol 1 of the Proceedings, published by ACM International Conference series on the ACM Digital Library.

Presentation at PDC 2024

Full papers will be presented and discussed in dedicated sessions at the conference (precise format to be determined). In order for the paper to be published in the proceedings at least one author must register for the conference.

Information given to reviewers

If you are submitting to PDC 2024, it may be helpful to also take a look at our guide for reviewing papers for PDC. This gives an overview of what PDC reviewers are asked to look for and act like when reviewing papers and can help authors in the preperation of their submission.

Full Papers Chairs

Margot Brereton (Queensland University of Technology, Australia)

Amanda Anne Geppert (University of Chicago, USA)

We held two online sessions on the 29th November 2021 to discuss examples of Exploratory Papers and ideas for future papers with newcomers to PDC. The papers discussed, and some general information for those new to the community thinking of submitting a paper, can be found here:

Exploratory Papers should present original, unpublished ideas and research that explores, advances or reflects on PD’s potential future developments. Exploratory Papers benefit from making one, clear contribution. Authors are encouraged to present a focused reflection or a meaningful empirical case study. A focused reflection will be expected to explore or advance existing ideas/concepts or propose new ones at a theoretical level, even coming from nearby disciplines to build an interdisciplinary dialogue. A case study will be expected to present applications of PD that are empirically fascinating even without strong theoretical grounding.

Compared to PDC Full Papers, Exploratory Papers are shorter and more concise (maximum length being 4000 words). They are not expected to provide the depth of a Full Paper; however they should still make a strong contribution to knowledge as an archival publication. We also encourage the submission of Exploratory Papers that will stimulate and provoke discussion at the conference around contemporary and future issues and challenges for the field of participatory design.

PDC Exploratory Papers can be submitted on any topic or issue of relevance to participatory design theory, practice or methods – however, we are especially interested in soliciting submissions that relate to the specific themes of the 2024 conference.

Important dates

13th November 2023 – Call for Exploratory Papers

2nd February 2023 - Submission deadline for Exploratory Papers

26th March 2024 – Notification to authors (Accept or Reject)

31st May 2024 – Camera ready papers deadline for accepted submissions

Submissions and Review Process

Exploratory Papers go through a double-blind, single-round, peer review process.

Two key deadlines for Exploratory Paper authors are:

1. The 1st deadline is on 2nd February 2024, when authors are required to submit their papers. On or before 26th March 2024, authors will be notified of the outcome of the reviews: either they will be accepted to the conference or their paper will be rejected.

2. The 2nd deadline is 31st May 2024, when selected authors will submit their camera ready papers. These will then be processed to be published on the ACM Digital Library prior to the start of the conference.

Paper Formatting and Length

Papers should be submitted according to the instructions and template available on the submission page. They should be anonymised for blind peer review.

Exporatory Papers should be written in English and should not be longer than 4000 words (excluding references).

Exploratory papers will be published in Vol 1 of the Proceedings, published by ACM International Conference series on the ACM Digital Library.

Presentation at PDC 2024

Exploratory Papers will be presented and discussed in dedicated sessions at the conference (precise format to be determined). In order for the paper to be published in the proceedings at least one author must register for the conference.

Information given to reviewers

Exploratory Papers Chairs

Kasper Rodil (Aalborg University, Denmark)

David Lamas (Tallinn University, Estonia)