Co-design with older people, why?

Co-design is a set of tools used by designers to engage non-designers by asking, listening, learning, communicating and creating solutions collaboratively. The methodology could be traced back to the practice of people-centred design and participatory design. The emphasis of shifting design power from the designer and client, via the designer, to the end-user makes it stands out from other user-centred design approaches. The concern of community is often highlighted in this field too. The co-design concept can also be defined as the concept of “Democratic design: A designer facilitating outcomes instigated by a community” which was defined by the UK’s Design Council. In other words, it is about respecting ordinary people’s creativities and designers’ roles are to bring people together to share the process of design.

One of the key collaborators of HKDI DESIS Lab for Social Design Research is the CoDesign Research Cluster at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation. Their definition of co-design is about “where the knowledge of the participants are brought into play and various activities simultaneously support mutual learning processes for all involved.” Their works are based on“various experimental oriented research approaches that both investigate existing practice and explore new possibilities by for instance staging processes where the participants ‘rehearse the future’. New knowledge is produced through interplay between people and artefacts in specific contexts.”  This focus aligns with the approach of HKDI DESIS Lab’s ‘Design Possible Studies’. 

One of the key parameters is changing the use of terminology. Therefore, instead of calling them the elderly or elders, we decided to use the term ‘older people’. In 2009, a new guide for journalists by the think tank the International Longevity Center, and ageism campaign group Aging Services of California warns against using terms, which discriminate against people of a certain age. Instead, people aged over 50 should be referred to as ‘older people’ or simply ‘man’ or ‘woman’ followed by their age, the guide suggests. ‘Old ladies’ of both the ‘little’ and ‘sweet’ variety are also to be avoided and ‘elderly’ is no longer an acceptable word for older people.