Purpose

Designing digital artifacts is not a linear, straightforward process. This is particularly true when applying a user-centered design approach, or co-design, with users who are unable to participate in the design process. Although the reduced participation of a particular user group may harm the end result, the literature on solving this issue is sparse. In this article, proxy design is outlined as a method for involving a user group as proxy users to speak on behalf of a group that is difficult to reach. The article investigates the following research question: How can roleplaying be embedded in co-design to engage users as proxies on behalf of those who are unable to represent themselves?

Design/methodology/approach

The article presents a design ethnography spanning three years at a cancer rehabilitation clinic, where digital artifacts were designed to be used collaboratively by nurses and patients. The empirical data were analyzed using content analysis and consisted of 20 observation days at the clinic, six proxy design workshops, 21 telephone consultations between patients and nurses, and log data from the digital artifact.

Findings

The article shows that simulated consultations, with nurses roleplaying as proxies for patients ignited and initiated the design process and enabled an efficient in-depth understanding of patients. Moreover, the article reveals how proxy design as a method further expanded the design. The study findings illustrate: (1) proxy design as a method for initiating design, (2) proxy design as an embedded element in co-design and (3) six design guidelines that should be considered when engaging in proxy design.

Originality/value

The main contribution is the conceptualization of proxy design as a method that can ignite and initiate the co-design process when important users are unreachable, vulnerable or unable to represent themselves in the co-design process. More specifically, based on the empirical findings from a design ethnography that involved nurses as proxy users speaking on behalf of patients, the article shows that roleplaying in proxy design is a fitting way of initiating the design process, outlining proxy design as an embedded element of co-design.

中文翻译：

---

代理设计：一种让代理用户在协同设计中代表易受攻击或无法访问的用户发言的方法

目的

设计数字制品并不是一个线性、简单的过程。当与无法参与设计过程的用户应用以用户为中心的设计方法或协同设计时尤其如此。尽管减少特定用户组的参与可能会损害最终结果，但解决此问题的文献却很少。在本文中，代理设计被概述为一种让用户组作为代理用户代表难以联系的组发言的方法。本文探讨了以下研究问题：如何将角色扮演嵌入到协同设计中，以让用户成为那些无法代表自己的人的代理人？

设计/方法论/途径

本文介绍了癌症康复诊所三年来的设计民族志，其中的数字制品旨在供护士和患者协作使用。使用内容分析对经验数据进行分析，包括 20 天的诊所观察、六次代理设计研讨会、患者和护士之间的 21 次电话咨询以及来自数字工件的日志数据。

发现

文章表明，模拟咨询，护士扮演患者代理人的角色，点燃并启动了设计过程，并实现了对患者的有效深入了解。此外，文章还揭示了代理设计作为一种方法如何进一步扩展设计。研究结果说明：（1）代理设计作为启动设计的方法，（2）代理设计作为协同设计中的嵌入元素，以及（3）参与代理设计时应考虑的六项设计指南。

原创性/价值

主要贡献是将代理设计概念化为一种方法，当重要用户在协同设计过程中无法联系、脆弱或无法代表自己时，可以点燃和启动协同设计过程。更具体地说，基于一项设计民族志的实证研究结果，该研究涉及护士作为代表患者发言的代理用户，本文表明，代理设计中的角色扮演是启动设计过程的合适方式，概述了代理设计作为一个嵌入元素共同设计。