The literature on participatory design has often communicated that participation in the design process is beneficial. If participation is good, then is more necessarily better? The purpose of this study is to determine whether participants’ satisfaction in the participatory design process and the resultant design is dependent on their level of participation in that process.

Two different groups of citizens from the Hamilton-Kerns neighborhood in S.W. Roanoke participated in the design of their neighborhood park. One group was involved in a traditional design process at a low level of participation; the other in a process at a higher level of participation. At the culmination of all workshops, participants were questioned about their satisfaction in the design process and the resultant design,

The results suggest that the level of satisfaction was not dependent on level of participation. Rather, the determining factor for level of satisfaction was whether or not the individual had participated in the design process.