[X]Changing Perspectives: enriching multi-stakeholder deliberation with embodiment in participatory society

Societal issues in cities concern many different stakeholders, all involved from different perspectives. In the context of deliberative democracy, this asks for a broad participation of stakeholders to influence and contribute to decision-making processes. We designed [X]Changing Perspectives, to explore how design might enrich deliberation with participatory sensemaking: the joint construction of meaning between individuals whereby the individuals are affected and could not have reached the constructed meaning on their own. We conducted three case studies in real life public issues with groups of 32 - 110 multi-stakeholder participants. The sessions were filmed and analysed through video analysis. Sessions revealed that enriching deliberative conversations with tangibility and visual representations contributes to a multidimensional understanding of the situation and its conflicting stakes without resulting in conflict or consensus. The physical triggers seemed to contribute to equal participation and to constructive deliberation. The visualization of conversations provides a sense of scale and reminds participants of the relativity of their conversation in light of other or unknown perspectives.