This document discusses co-design in the context of smart cities. It defines co-design as involving concrete work with stakeholders to design services based on what users want, rather than what technologies allow. Key aspects of co-design include collaboration, participation, a developmental process, and shifting power to involve users. Co-design is related to but distinct from co-production. The document provides examples of co-design from partners and discusses tools, contexts and issues to consider in implementing co-design.

1. Co-design in Smart Cities
Peter Cruickshank, Edinburgh Napier University

2. Political interest in co-design
Groningen’s Mayor Peter Rehwinkel
“ to enrol customers in co-design of
services… to lower costs of failure”
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3. What does ‘co-design’ mean?
Concrete work with another partner
» ie more than information sharing
A change in mindset
» moving from what the technological
developments can do, to what the
stakeholders want
A wholesale change in service design
» a transformation of services involving working
with end users (or agencies that work
with them)
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4. Key aspects
• Co-design is a collaboration.
• Transparency
• participation requires continuity of participants
• wide-ranging input.
• Co-design is a developmental process.
• exchange of information and expertise
• co-design teaches co-design.
• Co-design shifts power to the process
• balances rights and freedoms between participants
• equality of legitimacy and value in inputs
• collective ownership: empowerment and abrogation of power
• Co-design activities are outcome-based
• practical focus
• shared creative intent
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5. Relation to co-production
Responsibility for design of services
Professionals as sole Professionals and service No professional input into
service planner users/community as co- service planning
planners
Professional service
Responsibility for delivery of services
Professionals as provision but
Traditional professional Professionals as sole service
sole service users/communities
service provision deliverers
deliverers involved in planning and
co-design
Professionals and User co-delivery of User/community delivery of
users/communities professionally designed Full co-production services with little formal/
as co-deliverers services professional
User/community User/community delivery
Users/communities Self-organised community
delivery of professionally of co-planned or co-
as sole deliverers provision
planned services designed services
NESTA report (2009) 5

6. Who is involved
Types of involvement: Horizontal
Working with colleagues
Smart Cities partners
Neighbouring municipalities
Ties with language in project objectives
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7. Who is involved
Types of involvement: Vertical
Working with stakeholders
Other departments
Suppliers
Agencies
Citizens
Stakeholder involvement
can be legally required
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8. Tools & techniques
Meetings
Workshops
Focus groups
Surveys as alternative to focus group
• Mass survey of needs
• On specific issues
Stakeholder meetings
Process mapping / customer journey mapping
Ateliers
Design thinking
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9. Examples from our partners
Service development in Kristiansand
Community care for those with mental
illness
• The challenge: involve people and Start-up
families
• Counter intuitive to co-design
– stigmatised users
– weak social networks and low insight
• Group of potential users trained Preparation and
– to support their engagement
– help them to act as articulate
data gathering
representatives of their communities
– The training included :committee work,
media contact, the responsibilities and
roles of different government bodies
and how to run a ‘local interest Decision and
organisation’
• Took 3 to 4 times as long to create implementation
the required conditions
– But resulting service was better.
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10. Examples from our partners
Online engagement in Leiedal
Lelijke plekjes – mooie trekjes
•Asked for neglected (small
scale) public places to fix
•Professionals selected from
long list
•Map and images on the
website allows people to see
their ideas coming true
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11. Examples from our partners
Customer Journey Mapping in
Edinburgh
•Linked to customer insight and business process
improvement
•Focus on emotional insights into customer's
experience
•Naturally leads to engaging customers in service
redesign
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12. Contexts
•Segmentation and customer insight
• Successful co-design needs a clear picture
of who the customers are
•Research design
• Can fit with customer research
• ‘big picture’ surveys
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13. Contexts
Design thinking
Benefit
1 • Problem statement
(defining + researching) •Solution is focused on real
problems
2 • Immersion and
empathy
•Real user engagement
3 • Synthesis Challenges
•Problem definition can take 60% of
project time
4 • Ideation
•How to sell a creative process
when a PID must define the
5 • Prototyping deliverables?
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14. Some issues & lessons
• Think about related terms
» Mainstreaming, citizen engagement,
participation, knowledge management
• Organisational maturity
» ‘Know thyself’
• Requirement for long term, trust-based
relationships
» Its not a one night stand (or a solitary activity)
• Communication & sharing
• Case studies
• Reports
• Workshop 14

15. Any questions?
THANK YOU!
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