Paper short abstract:

Children, engineers, designers, medical staff and social scientists have taken part in a Participatory Design process of social robots for a children's hospital. This presentation reflects critically on the complexities, the limits and possibilities this kind of methodology offers.

Paper long abstract:

Nowadays, one of the central debates in design and STS fields is how to make experts sharing the leading role during a design process. In the last decades, we have witnessed a growing concern about the way users can be incorporated into the design process. There are several methodological proposes that seek to achieve this objective, such as User Centred Design, Co-Desing, or Participatory Design. Following this trend, a group of children, engineers, designers, medical staff and social scientists have taken part in a Participatory Design process of social robots for a children's hospital. Over five months, we have collaborated in the design of a prototype that must serve as a guide for the production of the final robot. This presentation explores the complexities of this methodology based on our experience. Once the project is finished, we haven't answered many questions; on the contrary, we have new issues and questions that lead us to think critically on our own process. What role should play each participant? How can different expertise be articulated throughout the process? Which moments or stages each actress has to be involved in? Finally, our aim is to share these concerns and explore the limits and possibilities this kind of methodology offers.