User participation - why does it scare us?

At the office the other day, we had a discussion about user participation in the design process.
It was clear that this is a subject that intrigues a lot of questions and arguments among these architects (and many others). I guess you could say that we, as architects, may be afraid of what we should do, if we´re not able to work as we always have been taught of doing. It is always scary to work with a project in a way you've never tried before. Especially without knowing the result. But without trying, you will never know.

When I presented my master thesis, one student in the audience, asked me a question I've been thinking about ever since. It had to do with what I wanted to work with in the future, as an architect. The person was wondering if I was considering to become a consultant, travelling around making presentations about how architects can better work together with the customer? Or maybe I was thinking of becoming a workshop leader? With this question in mind I started to think about what I could do with my knowledge.

You might say that my blog is a start in the right direction. At least for me.

/Ida