Audience and Goals

Thank you for the lively conversation on the outline page about the audience for the book and what it should address.  I started this page to continue dealing with this issue in its own place.  Please feel free to comment or edit the page directly by clicking “EDIT” above the page title.

Audience:

• The core audience is museum exhibit/experience developers who are interested in participatory design.  They may have a project in mind or in progress, or they may just have a hazy kind of interest.
• Secondary audiences are museum/informal educational facility educators, evaluators, technologists, volunteers and floor staff, and managers who run the visitor experience side of museums.  This also includes librarians and people who work in alternative educational facilities like zoos, parks, arts organizations, and community centers.
• Tertiary audiences are designers (not just museums) who are interested in participatory design for physical spaces.  This includes designers who work in the experience economy (theaters, restaurants, bars, coffee shops), retail, food and beverage, theme parks, urban planning, and technology.

Plan:

• The plan is to explain what design for participation is, how it works, and provide frameworks, case studies, and activities that are accessible to museum professionals at museums of any size and technological capacity. 

Goal:

• The goal is to get readers energized and trying participatory design techniques in their own work.  The goal is to demystify participatory design to the extent that it can be perceived as a useful set of techniques like any other set of design tools or strategies. 
• The secondary goal is to convince readers that there is unique value and advantages to participatory design techniques that make them worth the time and effort.  Since I assume that the designated primary audience already is somewhat convinced, this goal is secondary.  However, part of the goal is to give the core audience the vocabulary and frameworks they need to articulately advocate for participatory design to the powers that be.