The LinkVan Project: Participatory Technology Design in Vancouver

Authors

  • Suzanne Smythe
  • Dionne Pelan
  • Sherry Breshears

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20360/langandlit29406

Abstract

This article tells the story of “LinkVan,” a project that explores approaches to participatory technology design to forge more equitable digital and social relations in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) community of Vancouver, British Columbia. LinkVan began as a project to create a literacy-friendly online service directory for low-income and homeless citizens. We trace the experiences and patterns of digital inequality that led to the formation of the project and describe the evolving approach to technology design oriented to “the direct involvement of people in the co-design of the technologies they use” (Simonsen & Robertson, 2013 p. 2). We consider insights from 58 user experience interviews that suggest the precariousness of access, the centrality of digital literacy education in participatory technology design, and the potential of side-by-side ‘conversations at the interface’ (Attar, 2005; Barbatsis, Comacho, & Jackson, 2004) to imagine new digital landscapes and new social relations.

Downloads

Published

2018-07-19

How to Cite

Smythe, S., Pelan, D., & Breshears, S. (2018). The LinkVan Project: Participatory Technology Design in Vancouver. Language and Literacy, 20(3), 9–25. https://doi.org/10.20360/langandlit29406

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 3 (2018): Special Issue: Equity and Digital Literacies: Access, Ethics, and Engagements

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
    1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
    2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
    3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).