Five Principles That Will Transform Your Co-design Process

Working together creates magic if there is trust.

Ever been in a meeting where someone says, “Let’s co-design it," and everyone nods knowingly, but you suspect half the room has no idea what it actually means? You're not alone.

The Co-design Confusion

Here's the thing: co-design is one of those buzzwords that sounds impressive but often lacks understanding. When I start working with a new organisation, my first question is often: "What's your definition of co-design?"

The responses are... revealing. Sometimes I get a loose, hand-wavy explanation followed by nodding from colleagues. Other times, I'm met with blank stares or completely contradictory definitions from the same team.

Sound familiar?

Getting Clear on What Co-design Is

My colleague, Max Hardy, often references a presentation by Ingrid Burkett, Director of Learning and Systems Innovation at the Australian Centre for Social Innovation. Where she distinguished between human-centred design, design thinking, and participatory design, and when we're tackling complex community issues, we're firmly in participatory design territory.

Building on this clarity, here's a straightforward definition at Authentic Codesign:

Co-design is a collaborative approach that actively involves all stakeholders (staff, partners, citizens, customers, and end users) in the actual design process, ensuring the result genuinely meets their needs.

In simpler terms? It's creating solutions with people, not for them.

From Theory to Reality: Why Most Co-design Fails

Having a definition is easy. Doing co-design authentically? That's where things get tricky.

The truth is, co-design processes come in all shapes and sizes—some are transformative, while others are disappointingly superficial. After years of experience, we've identified five non-negotiable principles that separate authentic co-design from expensive consultation theatre.

The Five Principles That Work

Principle 1: Make It Substantial

The reality check: If you're asking people to choose between blue and red colour schemes, that's not co-design—that's a survey with fancy packaging.

Co-design is for the big stuff. The complex challenges. The decisions that make organisational leaders slightly uncomfortable because they're putting something significant on the table.

Why? Because substantial challenges engage people. They inspire commitment. They're worth people's precious time and energy.

Ask yourself: Is this decision important enough that stakeholders would rearrange their schedules to be part of it? If not, reconsider your approach.

Principle 2: Be Collaborative, Inclusive, and Safe

Tired of hearing the same voices in every meeting? Co-design is your solution.

True co-design deliberately invites diverse voices and perspectives to the table. But here's the crucial part: it's not enough to just invite people—you need to create conditions where they can actually contribute.

This means:

• Ensuring physical accessibility

• Creating emotional safety

• Acknowledging different communication styles

• Making space for various knowledge systems

• 
  

Remember: Inclusion isn't a nice-to-have—it's what makes co-design work.

Principle 3: Foster Mutual Learning (Everyone's an Expert at Something)

Here's where co-design gets really interesting: everyone brings expertise, just different types.

Take traffic planning, for example. A traffic engineer understands capacity, flow rates, and technical specifications. But the person who navigates that intersection twice daily? They know where the blind spots are, when the timing feels wrong, and how real people actually move through the space.

The magic happens when these different expertises collide and combine.

Co-design processes should be learning laboratories where everyone—including the "professionals"—comes ready to have their assumptions challenged.

Principle 4: Be Open and Transparent

No hidden agendas. No surprise constraints. No mysterious decision-making processes.

Transparency isn't just about being nice - it's strategic. When people understand the process, the constraints, and the decision-making criteria, they can contribute more effectively.

This means sharing:

• How decisions will be made

• What's on the table (and what isn't)

• How input will be used

• What happens next

• 
  

Trust is the currency of co-design, and transparency is how you earn it.

Principle 5: Be Jurisdictionally Aware (Set Real Boundaries)

Every project has constraints: laws, regulations, budgets, policies. Pretending these don't exist doesn't make them go away—it just sets everyone up for frustration.

The secret? Be upfront about boundaries from the start. Most people are remarkably understanding when they know what's genuinely negotiable and what isn't.

But here's the catch: those boundaries better be real. Nothing kills trust faster than discovering the "constraints" you've been working within were actually just preferences.

Putting It All Together

These five principles aren't ranked in order of importance because they all matter. Think of them as the foundation that supports everything else you do.

Here's the uncomfortable truth: Applying these principles can be challenging. But not applying them? That guarantees a predictably poor outcome, if not a complete disaster.

Ready to Transform Your Approach?

Co-design isn't just another methodology - it's a fundamentally different way of working with communities and stakeholders. When done authentically, it doesn't just create better solutions; it builds capacity, trust, and ownership that extends far beyond any single project.

The question isn't whether you can afford to do co-design well. It's whether you can afford not to.

Want to dive deeper into designing authentic co-design processes? Check out our online co-design course and learn how to apply these principles in practice.

Visit the Authentic Co-design team here - www.authenticcodesign.com