Practice : Inclusive Co-Design Sessions
Purpose and Strategic Importance
Inclusive Co-Design Sessions bring customers, stakeholders, and diverse team members into the design process. They amplify voices that are often excluded, ensuring equity and better innovation through varied perspectives.
Without inclusivity, teams risk blind spots, exclusionary design, and lost opportunities for differentiation.
Description of the Practice
- Collaborative workshops where diverse participants sketch, prototype, and brainstorm together.
- Accessibility, safety, and inclusivity are emphasised.
- Outputs directly inform product concepts and prototypes.
How to Practise It (Playbook)
1. Getting Started
- Recruit diverse participants representing target groups.
- Provide accessible materials (digital and physical).
- Frame the challenge around a clear, customer-centred problem.
2. Scaling and Maturing
- Institutionalise co-design in product rituals.
- Establish guidelines to ensure inclusivity (language, facilitation, accessibility).
- Share outputs across teams to embed inclusivity beyond the workshop.
3. Team Behaviours to Encourage
- Active listening to all voices.
- Curiosity about different lived experiences.
- Psychological safety during collaboration.
4. Watch Out For…
- Token participation without influence.
- Accessibility barriers (physical, digital).
- Lack of follow-through on session outputs.
5. Signals of Success
- Qualitative: Participants report feeling heard and valued.
- Quantitative: Increase in accessibility scores, broader user adoption.