Designing Together?: Group Dynamics in Participatory Digital Badge Design with Teens

Balancing the dynamics between industry, academia, and stakeholders in a participatory design (PD) project can be challenging, particularly with teens as design partners. In this reflective case study of digital badge design, we attempt to untangle complex PD work that incorporates several groups, each with their own vocabulary, area of expertise, and position in a perceived project structure hierarchy. Using participant interviews that reflect on the design process, triangulated with video, field notes, and design artifacts, we determined that the adolescent stakeholders, science center staff, researchers, and industry professionals viewed the design process through distinct lenses based on their communities of practice, which affected how they perceived the project. Our findings contribute new insight into how youth stakeholders perceive their involvement and role in participatory design practices within a complex design project.