Institutioning in the design and repair of digital public services

Denmark is widely recognised as a leader in public sector digitalisation, yet not all citizens are able to engage with the increasingly digitalised public services. While recent strategies promote digital inclusion, this concept is increasingly criticised for placing responsibility on individuals and overlooking structural conditions. This paper explores how participatory design can address these challenges by focusing on the situated practices of use, particularly the supportive network of repair work needed when citizens cannot
interact independently with digital public services. Through collaborative
engagements over 2.5 years with public authorities and IT helpdesk volunteers, we investigate how such repair work can catalyse democratic dialogue and mutual learning. Drawing on the concept of institutioning, we examine how participatory design can engage with institutional frames, not as fixed constraints but as sites of negotiation and potential transformation, opening up possibilities for a more inclusive and sustainable design of digital public
services.