"Taking Stock at FAccT": Using Participatory Design to Co-Create a Vision for the Fairness, Accountability and Transparency Community

2026-04-21 · Source: cs.AI updates on arXiv.org · Field: Technology & Digital — Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Research Methodology & Innovation · Depth: Expert, extended

Summary

Jan Simson and Yanan Long report on a large-scale participatory design (PD) process implemented for the ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT) to gather community input on its present state and future direction. The process, conducted between June 26 and August 1, 2025, involved an in-person CRAFT session to co-create initial statements, followed by an asynchronous Polis poll where 128 participants cast 4,531 votes on 59 statements, and finally, the synthesis of a governance-facing report for FAccT leadership. This initiative represents one of the first applications of PD to an AI ethics conference, aiming to foster reflexive governance and scale PD theory by providing a case study of a co-design paradigm that can scale temporally and epistemologically. Key findings include strong consensus on FAccT being an open community and the need for financial accessibility, but mixed opinions on specific mechanisms like industry funding or free student registration.

Key takeaway

For conference organizers seeking to democratize governance, implementing a multi-phase participatory design process can yield nuanced community insights. You should consider combining in-person sessions for initial agenda-setting with asynchronous online platforms like Polis to maximize reach and allow for diverse, anonymous input. This approach helps identify areas of consensus and division, informing actionable changes while recognizing the practical complexities of implementation.

Key insights

Large-scale participatory design can effectively gather diverse community input for conference governance and strategic direction.

Principles

• Low-friction inclusion increases socio-spatial reach.
• Temporal scaling requires well-engineered feedback loops.
• Epistemic safety fosters controversial perspectives.

Method

The process combined an in-person CRAFT session for seed statement generation, an asynchronous Polis poll for voting and new statement submission, and a governance-facing report synthesis to translate findings into actionable takeaways.

In practice

• Use Polis for scalable online deliberation.
• Employ LLMs for thematic analysis of statements.
• Provide clear, actionable executive summaries.

Topics

• Participatory Design
• FAccT Conference
• Conference Governance
• AI Ethics
• Community Engagement

Best for: AI Ethicist, Research Scientist, Policy Maker

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by cs.AI updates on arXiv.org.