Giving a Voice to the ‘Hard to Hear’ - Informing Digital Futures: Strategies for Citizen Engagement - page 95

led to design solutions which meet the needs of a wide range of citizens,
and thereby help to promote social inclusion and avoid 'exclusion by de-
sign'. As Newell points out, however, we are all 'extraordinary' users
sometimes and in some circumstances. Designs which accommodate 'ex-
traordinary' users will therefore be useful and usable by 'ordinary' users in
'extraordinary' circumstances (Newell 2000).
Another conclusion with a lesson to be drawn for future practice is that
better documentation of initiatives would add significant value through
building knowledge of good practice in citizen engagement. Many project
reports record their successes in reaching out to engage the 'hard to hear',
but in most cases do not give details about the process. For example, de-
tails of how they set about identifying their targets, selecting participants,
getting them involved and keeping them engaged are often missing, and
yet these are the very steps which often prove to be the stumbling blocks in
efforts to engage those citizens at risk of social exclusion.
Good practice in citizen engagement processes which can inform other
initiatives is reported in a number of the cases. For example, the UTOPIA
project showed the superiority of using video recordings of actual user
experiences of technology (compared with verbal or written reports) in
persuading key stakeholders of the merit and importance of user-centred
design. In some other cases, the methodologies adopted are innovative,
tailored to deal with the needs of specific stakeholder groups. In other
cases, the methodology is a standard one, but care has been taken to iden-
tify and engage specific stakeholder groups. Thus both the UTOPIA and
the Carnegie Youth Panel projects have established citizen panels which
enable relationships to be built up with citizens over time and the engage-
ment process to become more familiar and sustainable. We will return to
discuss these and other mechanisms for promoting and sustaining citizen
engagement in Chapter 9.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly of all, the significance of capacity
building and the necessary know-how emerges from the cases examined.
There is an abundance of evidence which shows that to develop an under-
standing of the potential of ICT to improve their lives is a major challenge
for the many people who have little or no familiarity with these technolo-
gies. A key conclusion to emerge from these findings is that adequate time
and good opportunities for people to learn and to develop understanding
must be factored into project planning. Without this provision, people can-
not readily develop new ways of thinking and new ways of doing things.
This leaves them at risk of exclusion, particularly 'digital exclusion'.
In summary, engaging the 'hard to hear' appears to be as rewarding as it
is demanding and while there is good practice in evidence, the codification
and dissemination of it has lagged behind. It is hoped that this topic will