How do we work?
At Open Cities Lab we subscribe to the principles of co-design which are delivered through a design thinking methodology.
Co-Design
Co-design is a collaborative design process that involves people who are affected by a product or service in its development. Here are some of the core principles:
Inclusion: The first principle of co-design is to ensure that all stakeholders have a voice in the design process. This means involving people who will be using the product or service, as well as designers, engineers, and other experts.
Equity: providing for people or groups of people who may have historically been excluded from decision making processes and tending specifically to their needs by asking them what those needs are and treating those as a priority.
Participation: Participation means that all stakeholders are actively involved in the design process. This includes engaging with users and other stakeholders in workshops, focus groups, and other engagement activities.
Empowerment: Co-design empowers all stakeholders to participate in the design process, ensuring that their ideas and feedback are taken seriously. This creates a sense of ownership and responsibility for the design outcome.
Iteration: Co-design is an iterative process, with continuous feedback and refinement. This means that the design is not fixed from the beginning, but rather evolves based on feedback and collaboration.
Transparency: Co-design involves open and transparent communication between all stakeholders. This means sharing information about the design process, decisions, and outcomes.
Flexibility: Co-design is a flexible process that can adapt to changing needs and circumstances. This means being willing to adjust the design process based on feedback and new information.
Creativity: Co-design encourages creativity and innovation in the design process. This means exploring new ideas, approaches, and solutions that may not have been considered before.
Design Thinking
Design thinking is an iterative problem-solving approach that helps to identify and solve complex problems. Here are the core components:
Empathise: Design thinking requires a deep understanding of the needs and wants of the end-users. It involves engaging with the users/stakeholders to develop a better understanding of their problems and needs.
Define: This principle involves clearly defining the problem that needs to be solved. This involves identifying the underlying issues and the root cause of the problem.
Ideate: This is the brainstorming phase of the design thinking process, where various ideas and solutions are generated. This involves thinking outside the box and coming up with creative solutions.
Prototype: In this phase, the ideas generated in the ideation phase are transformed into physical or digital prototypes. This helps to test and refine the ideas and solutions generated.
Test: This principle involves testing the prototypes with the end-users to get feedback and make improvements. This helps to ensure that the final product or solution meets the needs of the users.
Iterate: Design thinking is an iterative process, which means that it involves going back and forth between the various stages based on testing and user comment until the final product or solution is achieved. This allows for continuous improvement and refinement.
How Does Design Fit in at OCL?
Design does not exist within a vacuum and it is critical that we as a team understand how we relate to each of the major domains at OCL.
Data:
What do they do: Analyses and sorting of information and guiding the design team on how to best present nuanced issues utilising data backed evidence.
How do we support: We interpret and interrogate methods of presentation of that data which are audience and user specific.
Dev:
What do they do: Build digital systems and interfaces that allow for scalable, reliable deployment.
How do we support: Conduct research and create user-centric and buildable designs. We also test those built systems and feed user information back to the dev team in an actionable way.
GESI:
What do they do: Ensure that our designs and outputs are as equitably representative as possible and is not innately excluding.
How do we support: Conduct user testing taking equitable design principles into consideration and addressing the needs of previously excluded groups as a priority by implementing our findings in an actionable way across projects.
Ops & Comms & Mission Dev:
What do they do: Share organisational information and strategy and communicate other informational outputs like project timelines as well as organisational priorities.
How do we support: Implement priorities from Ops and Comms through design to ensure the organisational identity and ethos carries through to our project outputs.
Project & Programme Leads:
What do they do: Project Leads carry the long term vision of our projects and represent our partner needs while balancing budget against realistic output.
How do we support: We use research and consider equitable design principles and OCL's organisational strategy to create deliverable solutions that can be implemented by our dev team to help our PL's achieve their long term project goals.
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