Legitimate Peripheral Participation

A concept from Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger's situated-learning theory describing how newcomers join a community of practice by first participating in peripheral, lower-stakes activities and gradually moving toward full, central participation as they acquire the practices and identity of the community. In accessibility and participatory design research, LPP is a useful lens for scaffolding the involvement of disabled participants, older adults, or any group for whom full participation from day one is unrealistic: familiarisation walkthroughs, paired sessions with an experienced member, and low-pressure first tasks are concrete expressions of the idea.