Short answer
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.
- Field
- User-Centred Design
- Source
- Qualitative Research in Sport Exercise and Health (2022)
- Method
- Development of a typology and presentation of working principles for co-producing research.
- Evidence
- Moderate effect
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. This user-centred design research insight is drawn from a 2022 study published in Qualitative Research in Sport Exercise and Health. Using Development of a typology and presentation of working principles for co-producing research., researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key 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.
Co-production Framework Enhances Research Relevance and Impact
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.
Qualitative Research in Sport Exercise and Health · 2022
Key Findings
- 01A typology of co-production reveals distinct approaches: citizen contributions, integrated knowledge translation, and equitable/experiential research.
- 02University structures and academic norms often present challenges to co-production processes.
- 03Qualitative researchers are well-positioned to facilitate high-quality co-produced research.
Application
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.
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.
Project actions
- 01Identify your target users and any other stakeholders early on.
- 02Plan how you will involve them in different stages of your design project, from brainstorming to testing.
- 03Be prepared to adapt your design based on their feedback and insights.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Provides a clear typology for understanding different co-production approaches.
- +Addresses practical challenges and offers working principles for implementation.
Limitations
It can be challenging to recruit and manage the involvement of diverse user groups, and their input may sometimes conflict, requiring careful facilitation.
Reliability & validity
The validity of the typology and principles is supported by the authors' expertise and the qualitative nature of the research, which aims to provide a rich understanding of co-production. Reliability would depend on consistent application of the framework across different research projects.
Think critically
How might the challenges of academic norms and university structures be overcome to foster greater co-production in design research?
Design Principles
"Involve all relevant stakeholders in the design process to ensure relevance and efficacy."
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.
What This Means for Your Design
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.
How to use in your project
- 1.Reference this paper when discussing the importance of user involvement and stakeholder collaboration in your design process.
- 2.Use the co-production typology to justify your approach to user engagement.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
Paragraph starter
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.
Source
Qualitative Research in Sport Exercise and Health
Co-production: A resource to guide co-producing research in the sport, exercise, and health sciences
journal · 2022
View sourceQuestions About This Research
- What does the research say about co-production framework enhances research relevance and impact?
- 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. Evidence: Qualitative Research in Sport Exercise and Health (2022).
- Why does "Co-production Framework Enhances Research Relevance and Impact" matter for design?
- 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.
- How can designers apply this research?
- 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.
- What were the main 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.
- What research method was used?
- Development of a typology and presentation of working principles for co-producing research..
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Moderate effect, based on a 2022 journal from Qualitative Research in Sport Exercise and Health.
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- 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.
- What are the 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.