UW KidsTeam Anatomy Guidebook

Introduction

KidsTeam UW, led by Dr. Jason Yip, has worked with Seattle Public Library (SPL) for seven years, and has had partnerships with other libraries and organizations. As KidsTeam grows, we have noticed a small problem: do the people we work with fully understand what participatory design is? Co-creating a library program or anything else is at odds with what most people are used to - a hierarchical, teaching structure.
 
In a typical children’s program at a local library, a librarian or library staff member is in charge of a group of children, leading them through an activity or reading aloud a book. When KidsTeam is co-creating, we are graduate students and designers working with children, as equals, to create something that children will enjoy doing/making in the future.