In a world of increasingly complex problems, the incentive to use design to create innovative ideas is more pressing and more exciting than ever. These problems require multiple stakeholders with diverse knowledge and experiences to come together and co-create products, services and systems. Designers are generally skilled in visual and material form but also in using visual and material prototypes to explore ideas. A general design approach, however, is neither set for collaboration with non-designers nor has methods and tools adapted for participants with diverse non-design knowledge and experiences.

Co-creation is more than just assembling individual knowledge and experience of internal and external stakeholders; it is also about exploring the unique and collective experiences of the systems in which people operate -- making it vital to create together. Co-creation involve the act of creating with non-designers within the design process to ensure the results meet their needs. Designers often design for people, but the emphasis in co-design is on designing with people. There are important differences in terms of design approach. In C0-Design, designers use their specific visual and creative skills to co-create with actors whose competences and experiences can be completely different fromthoise of the designers. The designer must facilitate the collaboration, for example, by working and asking questions relevant for the participants. In turn, the participants must be supported in doing things that makes them think beyond their current situation and thus contribute transferring their knowledge and experiences.

This Thematic Collection offers a forum for design work on co-creation with non-designers, e.g., what methods and tools are suitable, and how design projects benefit from the involvement of non-designers. The collection aims at stimulating both research- and practice-oriented contributions in the domain of co-design and creating a forum for discussing relevant emerging issues. Submissions can be regular research papers or short design practice briefs.

Theme topics

• Methods and tools for co-creation with non-designers
• Values of co-creation with non-designers in projects
• Case studies of co-creation with non-designers in projects
• Co-design theory
• Diversity and inclusion in co-design projects
• Impact of co-creation
• Research-oriented co-design
• Practice-oriented co-design
• Co-creation of knowledge
• Co-creation of experiences

Instructions for Contributors can be found here.

Submission deadline: 31 March 2023

Guest Editors

John P. Clarkson, Cambridge University, UK, pjc10@eng.cam.ac.uk

Åsa Wikberg Nilsson, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden, asawi@ltu.se