Empowering individuals with disabilities as co-design experts enhances research validity and impact.

Why It Matters

This approach moves beyond tokenistic consultation to genuine collaboration, ensuring that design solutions are informed by lived experience and are therefore more relevant, usable, and equitable. It challenges traditional research hierarchies and acknowledges diverse forms of expertise.

Key Finding

When people with disabilities are actively involved as experts in research teams, their unique insights lead to better research design and outcomes, provided there is adequate structural support and a genuine appreciation for their contributions.

Key Findings

• The expertise of people with disabilities significantly informed research design.
• Structural conditions like funding and institutional support were foundational to successful co-design.
• Accessible practices, core roles for people with disabilities, and addressing ableist conditions were essential.
• Power shifts were vulnerable to institutional norms that devalued co-design contributions.
• Recognition of co-design value by decision-makers and allies was key to centering valuable knowledge.

Research Evidence

Aim: How can research processes be structured to effectively shift power and recognize the expertise of individuals with disabilities as core members in co-design initiatives?

Method: Qualitative research with assemblage analysis

Procedure: The study involved an evaluation of a project aimed at improving paid employment for people with intellectual disabilities. Data was analyzed using assemblage analysis to understand the material and social factors influencing power dynamics in the co-design process.

Context: Design research involving individuals with disabilities, specifically in the context of employment.

Design Principle

Genuine co-design requires the equitable distribution of power and the active valuing of diverse expertise, particularly from marginalized user groups.

How to Apply

When designing products or services for specific user groups, especially those with disabilities, establish co-design teams where members from the target group are compensated and empowered as expert contributors, not just participants.

Limitations

The study's findings may be context-specific to the particular project and institutional environment evaluated. The influence of specific funding structures and organizational cultures on power dynamics might not be universally applicable.

Student Guide (IB Design Technology)

Simple Explanation: When you design things for people, especially people with disabilities, it's best to have them as part of your design team from the start, not just ask their opinion later. They know best what works for them, and if the people in charge listen to them and support them, the final design will be much better.

Why This Matters: This research highlights that truly user-centered design means the users are not just consulted, but are active collaborators who hold expertise. This leads to more effective and ethical design outcomes.

Critical Thinking: To what extent can the principles of co-design, as described in this paper, be applied to design projects where direct collaboration with the end-user is logistically or ethically complex?

IA-Ready Paragraph: This research underscores the critical need for user-centered design to evolve into genuine co-design, where individuals with lived experience, particularly those from marginalized groups such as people with disabilities, are recognized and empowered as core experts. By integrating their unique knowledge throughout the design process, from problem definition to solution development, design projects can achieve greater relevance, efficacy, and equity. The study emphasizes that structural support, accessible practices, and a conscious effort to dismantle ableist norms are foundational to successfully shifting power and ensuring that valuable user insights are not undermined by institutional inertia.

Project Tips

• Actively recruit individuals with relevant lived experience to be part of your design team.
• Ensure that all team members, regardless of their background, have an equal voice and their contributions are valued.
• Consider the structural and institutional barriers that might prevent effective co-design and plan how to overcome them.

How to Use in IA

• Reference this study when discussing the importance of involving target users as co-designers in your research and development process.
• Use the findings to justify your methodology if you choose to implement a co-design approach with specific user groups.

Examiner Tips

• Demonstrate an understanding of how to genuinely empower user groups within a design project, not just gather feedback.
• Critically evaluate the power dynamics within your own design team and how they might affect the outcome.

Independent Variable: ["Involvement of individuals with disabilities as core team members","Recognition of their expertise by decision-makers","Structural support (funding, institutional backing)","Addressing ableist conditions"]

Dependent Variable: ["Power shifts in the co-design process","Research design informed by user expertise","Valuing of co-design contributions","Effectiveness of the co-design process"]

Controlled Variables: ["Nature of the design project (e.g., employment for people with intellectual disability)","Institutional norms and culture","Funding structures"]

Strengths

• Focuses on a critical aspect of inclusive design: power dynamics.
• Utilizes a qualitative approach to delve into complex social and material conditions.
• Draws on the expertise of multiple authors, including those with lived experience.

Critical Questions

• How can the 'assemblage analysis' method be practically applied by a design team to identify and address power imbalances in their own projects?
• What are the ethical considerations when shifting power in co-design, particularly regarding accountability and decision-making authority?

Extended Essay Application

• Investigate the effectiveness of different co-design models in empowering specific user groups for a product or service development project.
• Analyze the socio-technical factors that enable or hinder genuine co-design in a particular industry or context.

Source

Shifting power to people with disability in co-designed research · Disability & Society · 2023 · 10.1080/09687599.2023.2279932