Page 12 - Experience Based Co-design - a toolkit for Australia

Mindset - a way of thinking
“Co-design practice reflects more a way of thinking than it does a process. It can be done in a multitude of different ways, and therefore cannot be delineated in a concrete step-by-step process. This is because people, problems and contexts are always going to be variable; as will the organisations and practitioners who work with them.” (Quote from Co-Design Initiative report13)
So, what is co-design? Definitions and principles
Approaches have used the model variably and in the literature different terminology is used (see Box). But given this variation it is important to start with a common and shared purpose of the what and why. The lack of a shared purpose and understanding in your organisation risks not optimising the benefits of the approach; at the same time making it too narrow will stifle creativity and innovation.
Co-production11 (Osborne)
Co-production is defined as the voluntary or involuntary involvement of users in the design, management, delivery and/or evaluation of services.
Co-Creation12
Collaborative knowledge generation by academics working alongside other stakeholders. This was described in a research context but the authors noted that the concept emerged independently in several fields:
value co-creation – business studies experience-based co-design - design science
technology co-design - computer science participatory research - community development.