The co-design method for health and care

After years of research, experimentation and designing tailor-made solutions for people with disabilities, we drew up the strategy for innovating the health and care world through co-design, digital fabrication and rapid prototyping with Fondazione TOG. 

Starting from the question "We are all different, so why take care of everyone in the same way?” we developed and formalised our methodology and a set of tools to facilitate the co-design process between designers, therapists, families, caregivers and care-receivers.

Our approach embraces “human-centred design.” This means that people's needs are at the centre and the parties involved sit at the design table and participate in the co-creation process by bringing their point of view in a cooperative and equal manner. Digital fabrication and rapid prototyping allow testing ideas and producing unique, affordable solutions, quickly and tailored to the needs and aesthetic tastes of the end user.

The strategy designed by OpenDot in partnership with Fondazione TOG outlines eight points explaining the key principles for co-designing solutions by creating a space where all opinions, skills and experiences meet and are considered. This leads to developing solutions that can be shared and reproduced by anyone according to the open-source philosophy, to maximise the innovation impact and meet other people’s needs.

To systemitise the co-design process and spread this best practice with those who want to innovate the health and care world, ad hoc tools have been designed, such as a canvas for defining the design idea, a booklet to establish a positive dialogue based on empathy, a set of cards providing an overview of digital fabrication technologies - and how and when to use them, and a guidebook for sharing projects online so that they can be understood and reproduced by everyone.

The strategy and toolkits are available under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA licence and can be found on the FabCare.network website - the global Fab Lab network that makes healthcare more inclusive and innovative by co-designing and developing solutions that improve people's lives, producing locally and sharing ideas globally.