Textiles as Tangible Working Materials in Participatory Design Processes: Potentials and Challenges

Participatory design (PD) methods are currently of little use in the textile industry, even though the need for multiple stakeholder involvement in the industry is growing. In this paper, we argue that PD represents a potential for innovation in the textile industry, due to PD’s collaborative nature facilitating dialogue between different stakeholders and its ability to move stakeholder participation to the early stages of the design process. We have explored PD tools in a design process engaging architects and textile designers in designing textile products for Danish hospitals. From this we have realized a potential in dividing the materials into three types with different attributes, which should consequently be staged differently in a PD process. We have thereby seen that exploring PD in a textile design process improves the understanding of the role of tangible working materials in PD processes. We believe that the application of PD to the textile industry will enrich the theoretical foundations of PD in general.