Dr Euan Winton, a design expert at the Heriot-Watt University’s School of Textiles and Design in Galashiels in the Scottish Borders, has published research proposing a new framework that outlines collaborative design (co-design) where people living with dementia use their own ideas and actions to shape, lead and deliver projects, rather than always having projects given to, for or with them.
Dr Winton’s research follows six years of working with members of an Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Resource Centre who designed projects and services ranging from printed textiles and sculptural signage to a photo scanning service.
Dr Winton says:
“Good collaborative design is about helping people play a significant role in rethinking things that inform or shape their lives, and really that should mean you’ve collaborated on more than 50% of the project. Your thoughts, your actions, your ideas and the content you generate is important and you should have quite a bit of agency in making changes. We see a lot of co-design projects being done to, for or with participants. But the most empowering model is co-design ‘by’ – when designs for products or services are generated entirely by people living with dementia.”
The research paper, ‘The co-design participatory power pyramid’, can be read here: https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2024/researchpapers/104/
Read more about Dr Winton’s work here: https://www.hw.ac.uk/news/2024/people-living-with-dementia-can-be-powerful-design-collaborators-new-heriot-watt-research-shows