‘You can argue it two ways’: The collaborative management of a design dilemma

This paper uses aspects of Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis to consider talk from a meeting that occurred in a university course on ‘universal’ design. The focus is on how participants manage a practical and moral dilemma: how might they design a product that meets the needs of a wide population and the needs of a particular client? Resolving this dilemma has consequences for both who the product is aimed at and how it will function. Through the analysis and discussion of an extract of talk, this paper investigates precisely how this practical and moral dilemma of design is carefully managed and resolved through the collaborative social interactions of practice.

► Demonstrates Ethnomethodology as an analytic tool for studying design practice. ► Demonstrates Conversation Analysis as an approach to understanding collaboration. ► Investigates how a design decision is arrived at through intersubjective interaction. ► Indicates the simultaneity of moral and practical problems within design practice.