Guide
Five co-design pitfalls to avoid
Five ways co-design goes wrong and how to avoid each. Tokenism invites users after decisions are made. Recruiting only articulate users skews the ideas. Designers and PMs filling the silence crowd users out. A workshop with no synthesis wastes people's time, and unclear terms on privacy and IP erode trust. Use it as a check before your next workshop.
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What's in this guide
- Tokenism: Inviting users once decisions are made. Bring a real problem and real openness.
- The articulate-user trap: Recruiting only confident users skews ideas toward their needs. Diversify who you invite.
- Expert capture: Designers and PMs fill the silence. Use turn-taking and written or visual channels.
- Idea overload without synthesis: Budget as much time for synthesis and follow-up as for the session itself.
- Privacy and IP confusion: Say upfront how contributions will be used, credited and protected.
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<a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/co-design-pitfalls-to-avoid"><img src="https://www.koji.so/visuals/co-design-pitfalls-to-avoid/co-design-pitfalls-to-avoid.png" alt="Listicle of five co-design pitfalls: tokenism, the articulate-user trap, expert capture, idea overload without synthesis, and privacy and IP confusion." width="1080" height="1080" /></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/co-design-pitfalls-to-avoid">Five co-design pitfalls to avoid</a>, Koji</p>
