Abstract This paper investigates the types of work that unemployed youths perform as part of their obligations to the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (WA) while receiving services and financial benefits. Our findings identify two primary categories of work: the use of digital self-services for mainly administrative purposes and the relational work involving interactions with advisors and other clients. We found that digital self-services often delegate small, fragmented tasks to clients, perceived as mechanisms of control. In contrast, the relational interactions are experienced as valuable support, assisting clients in navigating and progressing their situation. We discuss the nature and implications of digital self-service work and propose design alternatives aimed at enhancing clients’ understanding of the employment process, emphasizing the importance of task significance within a wider context. Additionally, we examine the role and limitations of digital self-services within public welfare administration, particularly in assisting clients facing challenging life circumstances. To address the complex issue of youth unemployment, we suggest a participatory approach, aimed at helping young individuals break the ‘loop of unemployment.’

Abstract In Participatory Design (PD), the design of a cooperative digital solution should involve all stakeholders in the co-design. When one stakeholder’s position is weaker due to socio-cultural structures or differences in knowledge or abilities, PD methods should help designers balance the power in the design process at both the macro and micro levels. We present a PD method that addresses the power relations arising during the design process and draws on theories about participation and power in the design and organisation of change processes. We contribute to Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) by using the PD method to design computer support for cooperation on cognitive rehabilitation between people with Mild Acquired Brain Injuries (MACI) and their healthcare professionals, where strengthening the cooperation is considered an element of patient empowerment. This method is presented as a contribution to the intersection between PD and CSCW. The discussion of power in PD contributes to the discussion of cooperation in CSCW. We found that EquiP supported the creation of choices, and hence the ‘power to’ influence the design. This method can contribute to a power ‘equilibrium’ and a positive-sum power relation in PD sessions involving all stakeholders.

The paper you hold in your hands tells the story of the last evaluation meeting in the Florence project. The Florence project dealt with use of computers in nurses' daily work, and in the project a small and rather simple computer system was developed. The computer system was intended to support cooperative aspects of the nurses' work. During the evaluation meeting it turned out that the nurses find the system useful, even though they cannot fully explain why. Thus we may say that we survived The Ultimate Test of the computer system.