title: Engaging teenagers productively in service design.
abstract: Engaging young people in participatory design can be challenging, particularly in health-related projects. In a study co-designing diabetes support and information services with teenagers, we found framing activities using popular culture was a useful strategy. Various cultural references helped us stage activities that were productive for the design process, and were engaging for our young participants (e.g. exploring practical implications through discussions in a 'Dragons' Den'). Some activities were more effective than others and the idea oflanguage-games, which has been widely explored in participatory design, explains why our strategy was successful when there was a clear 'family resemblance' between the popular cultural references and certain essential stages of designing. However, attention is required in selecting appropriate cultural references if this strategy is adopted elsewhere, and design facilitators should focus first on devising accessible language-games, rather than expecting popular cultural references to provide complete solutions to the challenge of staging participatory design.
authors.affiliation: Digital Interaction, Culture Lab, Newcastle University, King's Walk, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bowen
authors.affiliation: Department of Design, Aalto University, Group I Hämeentie 135 C, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sustar
authors.affiliation: Art & Design Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, S1 2NU, UK.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wolstenholme
authors.affiliation: Communication & Computing Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, S1 2NU, UK.
authors.forename: Andy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dearden
keywords: Diabetes; Participatory design; Service design; Teenagers