Children's Participation in the Design of Digital Artifacts: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations

In user-centered design processes of digital artifacts, representatives of the target users are invited to participate, because they have knowledge of the problems to be solved by these artifacts. However, generally, the inclusion of these potential users into the process does not entail genuine participation. The aim in these cases is obtaining information that these users can provide for designers to make decisions about the product. When these potential users are children, participation restrictions are often even greater, because children are often seen as unable to make valid contributions. Participation with power balance between designers and representatives of the target users in decision-making in design projects is one of the ethical motivations of Participatory Design (PD), and much has been studied about the inclusion of children in projects that apply PD. However, PD projects could further benefit from theories on child participation. Aiming to contribute to bridge this gap, this paper presents a discussion relating child participation theories to participatory design processes of digital artifacts.