Achieving Successful Co-design
- People entering into a co-design process need to be there in good faith with the potential to influence change. If they are practitioners, they need buy-in at an organisational level about their input in the co-design group and what they can bring back.
- Value everyone equally. Lived experience is as valuable as professional experience. We do this by offering to pay people who do not earn a salary.
- Pay careful attention to the practical arrangements to ensure everyone can participate – we have developed an Inclusion Form to make sure we identify and respond to everyone’s needs.
- Break down ‘them’ and ‘us’ barriers whenever possible. Mix people up. Move away from ‘roles’ and instead focus on skill sets and ‘what we’re good at’.
- Develop a working together agreement as a group. Ask people what their hopes are for the project and what their concerns are. As a group think about how you can overcome concerns and achieve the hopes together.
- Use tools to help everyone have a voice e.g. Stop, ‘I want to speak’ talking cards.
- Avoid buzzwords and jargon.
- Give people responsibilities e.g. homework to complete beforehand. This will help those who perhaps don’t speak up in the group have their voice heard.
- Be transparent about where you are in the design process. Make people feel comfortable when they are in the messy, idea generation, stages.
- Give people the opportunity to complain (within reason!), listen to the complaints and write them down. If they have ideas about changing the process, facilitate these where possible.