The power of co-design, and the power to co-design: it starts with systems change

Over the period of the Coronavirus pandemic I was completing my dissertation. It focused on designing services with and for young people facing multiple disadvantages. Specifically, ‘how does engaging disadvantaged young people in the design of support services in the voluntary sector effect the approach?’. Like the pandemic, it provided much for me to think about. When I shared my dissertation with colleagues in The Children’s Society it generated useful reflections, so I’ve decided to share a summary more broadly in the hope I will hear from other people too. I was specifically researching approaches that involved young people beyond consultation activities. The projects needed to include young people in the design of the service, rather than just being consulted one time with adults making the overall decision.

My dissertation reviewed learning from various projects that attempted to include young people in designing or improving services. In this blog post I’ve tried to distil some key takeaways that maybe useful for others. The services included in my research ranged from mental health support (both community and in-patient), drug and alcohol services, child sexual exploitation support, care leavers support, and school transitions support. The varied nature of the support demonstrates that young people facing a wide range of disadvantages can be included in service design. Involving them requires adults around them to think and act in ways other than ‘business as usual’ — something we’ve all had to do over the last year.

Here are some key takeaways from my work.

Young people:

• The young people involved in the projects had all experienced trauma, faced multiple disadvantages and continued insecurity. These young people had valuable experience, knowledge and ideas for designing services that could better meet their needs.
• The young people had competing demands including the challenging situations they were facing, school, college, or work to juggle as well as giving their time to participate in the design process. The design process needed to recognise the other demands on their time and attention, and be of interest and meaningful to them. Attending business meetings, in places that were unfamiliar with unfamiliar people using jargon did not work, recruiting through posters and emails did not work.
• Young people liked it when the activities were fun, safe, and meaningful. When they could participate in ways that took into account their needs, in places that they felt safe whether that was the service they attended or in areas they lived. They needed an approach which did not assume total commitment throughout, but allowed them to choose. This often meant meeting young people where they are at. They liked feeling listened to and seeing their experiences changing the future ways of working.
• Young people took away individual benefits from this participation, whether it was a sense of achievement, purpose and choice, through to learning practical skills and employment. Young people collectively benefited from services that had recognised the importance of young people’s voice in design, and so took different approaches which met their needs.

Staff:

• Staff who support young people are important both in the process as trusted adults for those young people, and as participants who can share their insight into how services work well, or don’t! In the examples I looked at, they didn’t play these roles at the same point but it’s important to recognise both. What looks good on paper may not work in real life and staff can highlight this during service design.
• Trusted relationships are vital, both with young people and also within the organisation. When these are in place, people are able to participate, be honest, make contributions about serious experiences and maintain motivation.

Power:

• It’s vital to recognise the power dynamics in the process of design. What do organisations tell young people about their real influence in the process? How do organisations hold themselves accountable for taking young people’s influence seriously and taking action based on it? How do organisations share the power with young people? How do they build in time to truly engage young people facing disadvantage? (after all it doesn’t happen overnight).
• There were examples of entire designs being created only for senior leaders to dismiss them, or a restructure occurring and staff no longer being able fulfil the project aim. It’s scary to embrace new ways of working. It requires leaders to be courageous — who are able to cope with the vulnerability associated with departing from ‘business as usual’.

To my mind, rather than focusing on the ‘how’ we involve young people (there lots of great guides and suggestions out there) we need to focus on power:

• how it’s relinquished and shared with young people,
• how we demonstrate action (interestingly young people describe feeling listened to when they see action as a result, not just the act of listening)
• how we commit resources and influence those with the funds to make it happen.

When the systems of power in organisations and their funding remain tied to the status quo, efforts to change approaches to service design are less likely to be successful or sustainable.

Process:

Within charities there are often people who know their stuff around participation and design. And there are staff with great relationships with young people. The challenge is more often the internal systems of an organisation, and how these enable or disable staff and young people from collaborating to co-create services. Organisational systems reflect wider funding systems — how services are funded, the timelines for bids, constraints within specifications… etc. How do we see young people? As a problem: ‘users’ — to be rescued, patched up and discharged — or as people with their own agency to be worked alongside and offered these opportunities?

The Children’s Society’s new strategy puts co-design at its heart. This will require us to look deep at our own systems, and our relationship to external systems, to explore where power and influence lies. Living our organisational values of bravery and ambition — and making good our commitment to speak truth to power — will be essential to realise the vision of co-design we are committing to.

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Jo Petty is a Youth Engagement Lead at The Children’s Society.