Ten Permissions for Facilitating (Live) Design Activities

Workshop ideation activities are often described with little attention to the role of the facilitator - a role often portrayed as following a recipe, and not getting in the way of the process. Our experience tells a different story. In this provocation, we argue that the role of facilitator needs to be carefully considered and performed. We propose an active role for facilitators where they may encourage or challenge the process, allow risk, handle vulnerabilities (including their own), and assist in articulating the unknown, unclear, and hazy, as it emerges. To do this, facilitators acknowledge their own presence and concerns, while simultaneously handling processual ethics and iterative consent. We counterbalance the tendency to offer workshop guidelines by offering instead ten permissions for design activities that acknowledge the role of the facilitator and, inspired by Judith Butler's thought on accountability, open up to moments of unknowingness.