Our Thinking: Better together – The power of co-design

We rely on the power of co-design between ourselves, our clients and our users to help us design with purpose.

Many art forms – think painting, music and literature – carry an almost mystical presence around them. 

Whether you believe in the power of divine intervention on the artist or not, inspiration is something that comes with a lot of unknowns. Even for the more secular-minded, the concepts of artistry and creation are mystifying and most likely conjure up images of the tortured artist locked away alone in a room waiting for inspiration to visit them. 

We design in opposition to this notion. We don’t expect divine inspiration to visit us within the confines of our studio. Instead, we go looking for connection in creation. We rely on the power of co-design between ourselves, our clients and our users. 

One way we facilitate this type of communal design process is through card sorting. This process is a relatively simple yet powerful one, especially when it comes to guiding the user’s wayfinding experience. 

We bring cards along to and conduct workshops with clients to define what they expect from the wayfinding system. When we’re working with one of our major project stakeholders, in many cases architects, we begin the exercise by encouraging them to pick certain cards that call their attention. These cards can include a wide array of textures, colours and shapes, directional signage and route landmarks, to language choices and digital options. After each participant has selected their card choices we discuss what drew them to that choice and why. 

Inevitably, we uncover a plethora of insights throughout this process. We discover common patterns of preferred movement and communication, underlying assumptions about wayfinding, and new ways of thinking. Most importantly, we take the guesswork out of the entire wayfinding process. We are able to establish expectations early. We get to understand them and how to approach their preferences and design direction in the future. We understand better how to design even before we get our internal thinking process started. 

These moments of conversations turn into the bubbles of inspiration we can draw from throughout the design process. Co-designing in this manner allows us to start from a place of human connection and excitement, as opposed to isolation and miscommunication. Collaborating in this manner also saves us immense amounts of time in the long run. By creating from a place of ‘our’ and not ‘my’ design, we create a greater sense of co-ownership, co-investment and co-creation. 

As designers, it is this sense of co-creation that makes the whole experience much more enjoyable. Instead of sitting in front of a screen after all these years apart, co-design brings us back to the essence of creativity for designers like us, enjoying the presence of others, using our hands and arranging ideas into thinking that can help improve people’s lives. 

Collaboration of this kind isn’t a guarantee of an instant solution to complex design problems. After all, we are not living in an ideal world where process leads to the perfect solution. But when it does, it makes everything easier, which helps us to move projects forward, overcome design and architectural challenges, and learn new things about our field and industry every day.