Co-production Framework Enhances Research Relevance and Impact
Category: User-Centred Design · Effect: Moderate effect · Year: 2022
Adopting a co-production framework, which actively involves end-users and stakeholders in the research process, leads to more relevant, impactful, and equitable outcomes in sport, exercise, and health sciences.
Design Takeaway
Integrate end-users and diverse stakeholders into the design and research process from the initial concept through to evaluation to ensure the final product or intervention is relevant, usable, and impactful.
Why It Matters
This approach moves beyond traditional researcher-led models by integrating diverse perspectives and lived experiences directly into the research design, execution, and dissemination. This can lead to innovations that are better tailored to real-world needs and more readily adopted by the communities they aim to serve.
Key Finding
The research identifies different ways co-production can be implemented and highlights that while academic environments may not always support it, involving diverse stakeholders, particularly those with qualitative expertise, can lead to more effective research.
Key Findings
- A typology of co-production reveals distinct approaches: citizen contributions, integrated knowledge translation, and equitable/experiential research.
- University structures and academic norms often present challenges to co-production processes.
- Qualitative researchers are well-positioned to facilitate high-quality co-produced research.
Research Evidence
Aim: How can a co-production framework be developed and applied to enhance the relevance and impact of research in the sport, exercise, and health sciences?
Method: Development of a typology and presentation of working principles for co-producing research.
Procedure: The paper defines co-production, develops a typology of different co-production approaches (Citizens’ Contributions to Public Services, Integrated Knowledge Translation, and Equitable and Experientially-informed Research), discusses rationales and challenges, and outlines working principles and practical options for co-producing research.
Context: Sport, exercise, and health sciences research, including public health, sports medicine, psychology, and management.
Design Principle
Involve all relevant stakeholders in the design process to ensure relevance and efficacy.
How to Apply
When initiating a new design project, map out all potential user groups and stakeholders and plan for their active involvement in key stages of the design process, such as needs assessment, ideation, prototyping, and testing.
Limitations
The paper focuses on the sport, exercise, and health sciences, and the applicability of the typology and principles to other domains may require adaptation.
Student Guide (IB Design Technology)
Simple Explanation: To make your design projects more useful and successful, work closely with the people who will actually use your designs throughout the entire process, not just at the end.
Why This Matters: Involving users in your design projects makes your work more relevant to real-world needs and increases the likelihood that your final design will be successful and well-received.
Critical Thinking: How might the challenges of academic norms and university structures be overcome to foster greater co-production in design research?
IA-Ready Paragraph: This research highlights the value of co-production in ensuring design outcomes are relevant and impactful. By actively involving end-users and stakeholders throughout the design lifecycle, as advocated by Smith et al. (2022), designers can move beyond assumptions and create solutions that truly meet user needs and are readily adopted.
Project Tips
- Identify your target users and any other stakeholders early on.
- Plan how you will involve them in different stages of your design project, from brainstorming to testing.
- Be prepared to adapt your design based on their feedback and insights.
How to Use in IA
- Reference this paper when discussing the importance of user involvement and stakeholder collaboration in your design process.
- Use the co-production typology to justify your approach to user engagement.
Examiner Tips
- Demonstrate a clear understanding of who your users are and how you have involved them in your design process.
- Show how user feedback has directly influenced your design decisions.
Independent Variable: Implementation of a co-production framework.
Dependent Variable: Research relevance, impact, and equity.
Controlled Variables: Disciplinary field (sport, exercise, health sciences).
Strengths
- Provides a clear typology for understanding different co-production approaches.
- Addresses practical challenges and offers working principles for implementation.
Critical Questions
- What are the ethical considerations when co-producing research with diverse groups?
- How can the success of co-produced research be measured beyond traditional academic metrics?
Extended Essay Application
- An Extended Essay could explore the application of co-production principles to a specific design challenge, involving target users in the research and development process to inform the final design solution.
Source
Co-production: A resource to guide co-producing research in the sport, exercise, and health sciences · Qualitative Research in Sport Exercise and Health · 2022 · 10.1080/2159676x.2022.2052946