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Design with other people

So the people who live the problem take part in the solution. In each step, choose one or more entries; open “How it’s used” to decide without leaving this page.

  1. Step 1

    Choose the approach

    How much decision-making power the team shares.

    How it’s used

    The collective creativity of designers and people not trained in design, applied throughout the whole process. It is a specific case of co-creation.

    How it’s done

    1. The design team prepares materials so anyone can create.
    2. People create from their own experience.
    3. Together, everyone interprets what was made and decides what to design.
    Avoid
    Inviting people to co-design when the solution has already been decided.
    Full entry, with sources
    How it’s used

    An approach in which the people who will live with the result take part as partners throughout the design process and decide together with the team.

    How it’s done

    1. Form a group with the people who will live with the result.
    2. The team and the people learn from each other.
    3. Decisions are made together at every stage, from start to finish.
    Avoid
    Calling a survey, or a workshop where nothing is decided, participation.
    Full entry, with sources

  2. Step 2

    Prepare the tools

    Materials that let anyone express themselves.

    How it’s used

    Kits of materials (images, words, pieces) that people use to create collages, maps or models to express experiences, feelings and ideas that are hard to put into words.

    How it’s done

    1. Prepare the kit. Images, words and a clear prompt.
    2. Create. Each person builds their collage, map or model.
    3. Tell it. The person explains what they made and why; it is recorded.
    Output
    Collages, maps or models made by the participants themselves
    Avoid
    Analyzing the collage without the explanation of the person who made it.
    Full entry, with sources

  3. Step 3

    Run the session

    Work together in the same space.

    How it’s used

    An intensive, collaborative workshop, often lasting several days, in which design teams and affected people propose, present and revise solutions in rapid cycles.

    How it’s done

    1. Prepare the problem and decide whom to invite.
    2. Work in groups and present to everyone.
    3. Revise based on what you hear, until you reach a plan.
    Output
    Proposals developed and revised as a group over a few days
    Avoid
    Calling a two-hour meeting a charrette.
    Full entry, with sources
    How it’s used

    The team, and sometimes users, act out a situation with simple or cardboard objects to imagine how a product or service would work.

    How it’s done

    1. Prepare the scene and the roles.
    2. Act out the situation with the imagined object.
    3. Discuss what worked and what didn't.
    Output
    Acted-out situations that show how an idea would work
    Avoid
    Turning it into theater without a design question.
    Full entry, with sources
    How it’s used

    Ideating in the real place, or a similar one, and acting out the situations and ideas there with your body, instead of imagining them from a meeting room.

    How it’s done

    1. Go to the place or recreate a similar one.
    2. Act out the situation and the ideas.
    3. Note what works and what doesn’t.
    Output
    Ideas tried out physically in the real place
    Avoid
    Doing it without research data: you would be acting out your assumptions.
    Full entry, with sources

  4. Step 4

    Close the loop

    Organize what came out and share it back.

    How it’s used

    Writing each research observation on a note and grouping the notes by affinity, bottom-up, until the themes that connect them emerge.

    How it’s done

    1. Write one observation on each note.
    2. Group the notes that are alike, without prior categories.
    3. Give a title to each group and arrange the groups.
    Output
    Observations grouped into themes
    Avoid
    Starting with categories already decided: that way you only confirm what you believed.
    Full entry, with sources
    How it’s used

    The process of organizing, grouping, and interpreting what has been researched until patterns, insights, and design opportunities emerge.

    Why it happens

    1. Get all the information out while it is fresh.
    2. Group and regroup it, looking for patterns and differences.
    3. Interpret it until insights and opportunities are formulated.
    Avoid
    Jumping from data to solutions without going through interpretation.
    Full entry, with sources