Co-Design with Patients, HCPs or Consumers

Co-design Studies are a collaborative research method that brings together researchers, designers, and typical users in a workshop setting to explore challenges and co-create potential solutions through creative and interactive exercises.

This approach ensures we solve problems in a truly user-centred manner by identifying the areas users find most valuable and uncovering pain points that genuinely need addressing—rather than relying on assumptions.

By engaging directly with healthcare professionals, patients, and caregivers, we also reveal intuitive design approaches that may differ from what designers anticipate, bridging the gap between expert knowledge and real-world user needs. This results in digital solutions that are not only more meaningful but also better aligned with users’ expectations and behaviours.

Service details

Deliverables

Facilitation of in-person or remote co-design workshops, translating user-generated insights into prototype recommendations, visual concept captures, and a synthesis of user mental models to inform product development.

Benefits

By collaborating directly with end users, you’ll gain actionable insight to validate concepts early, ensuring digital solutions align with user expectations while reducing the need for extensive redesigns.

What is a Co-design Study?

A Co-design Study is a structured, interactive workshop where users actively participate in shaping a digital product’s features, usability, and experience. Through creative exercises, we capture user preferences, pain points, and mental models—ensuring solutions are developed with real-world input.

If designing an app to support autism assessments, for example, we might conduct parallel co-design studies with parents—to understand challenges in providing assessment information—and with clinicians—to ensure professional requirements are met.

This process bridges the gap between research and testing, making sure both perspectives are integrated to create a solution that is both clinically robust and user-friendly.

Co-design studies can be conducted in-person or remotely, using digital whiteboard tools to enable seamless collaboration.

How will a Co-design Study help you?

Reduces redesign cycles by validating ideas early and avoiding costly rework
Minimises risk by eliminating assumptions and ensuring user needs are at the core of decision-making
Ensures intuitive design by aligning with the mental models of real users rather than internal perspectives
Drives innovation by uncovering new ideas and user-driven solutions
Enhances stakeholder alignment by providing tangible user insights that build consensus around design decisions

By embedding co-design into the development process, you ensure that every decision is grounded in real user needs, leading to more effective, engaging, and intuitive digital experiences.