View article

This paper describes PICTIVE, an experimental participatory design technique that is intended to enhance user participation in the design process. PICTIVE combines low-tech objects with high (er)-tech video recording. The low-tech objects—ie, non-computer representations of system functionality—are intended to insure that all participants have equal opportunity to contribute their ideas. The video recording makes record-keeping easy, reduces social distance during the design session, and may give rise to informal video “design documents.” The session proeeedsbyakind ofbrainstorming, with the low-tech objects used to express each participant’s ideas to the others. This paper describes our initial experiences with the PICTIVE technique, informal analyses about why the teehnique works, and several Bellcore projeets and products to which it has been applied.