Deliberating, designing, and doing situated ethics in citizen collaborations

Collaborative design is a complex practice in which designer(-researchers) and non-designers share their knowledge and experiences for co-production. How collaboration is conducted is often ridden with power tensions and ethical entanglements that require sensitive navigation. Contributing to the discourse at the nexus of ethics and collaborative design, this article proposes a thinking framework around situated ethics – a pantogram mapping four dimensions of ideal designer and citizen embodiment in collaborative acts. A case study follows, exemplifying how the framework can be applied in practice, focusing on ethical collaborative designing with citizens towards a new neighbourhood square. The article culminates in a proposal for ethical behaviour that is not only meaningful but also viable and reflexive enough to adapt and perform for collaborative in-person activities.