Midnight sun and Participatory design: a secondment in Northern Norway

Did you know that Bodø was the European Capital of Culture in 2024? The beautiful capital of Nordland (Norway) hosted me for a few months this summer, where I joined Prof. Hermann to learn about participatory design.

I discovered participatory design during one of our biannual training weeks through the Autobarge project. During this training, Prof. Hermann gave us a lecture on participatory design and action research. It immediately struck me how well this approach would fit into my research, which already planned to include stakeholders. Inspired by this, I decided to spend a couple of months in Norway.

Participatory design was developed in Scandinavia to allow workers to discuss and decide on the technologies introduced in the workplace.[1] It seeks to give power and voice to those affected by changes, whether it’s new technology in the workplace or any change in a system. Engaging with users and stakeholders through prototyping sessions enables the designer to understand the users’ needs and design a product, service, or system that meets these needs, avoiding potential mismatches between the design and actual use.

In my research, the application of participatory design will allow different inland shipping stakeholders to discuss the future regulation of liability in autonomousinland shipping. The application of participatory legal design will enable stakeholders to envision a future where autonomous barges navigate alongside conventional ones, and encourages them to share their knowledge and perspectives on economic, managerial, and organizational aspects, and how they would prefer liability matters to be regulated.

Besides the fruitful scientific discussions with Prof. Hermann, I enjoyed meeting members of the Bodø Business School, the Center for High North Logistics, and the Center for Crisis Management and Collaboration. Moreover, I was able to enjoy the wonderful midnight sun, listen to a live Joik (Sami traditional song), and contemplate the amazing nature while experiencing the kindness and warmth of the people in northern Norway!

An article by Camilla Domenighini.

[1] Sanders, E. B.-N., & Stappers, P. J. (2008). Co-creation and the new landscapes of design. CoDesign, 4(1), 5–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/15710880701875068