In 2006 Demos published Journey to the Interface - an impassioned advocation of the value of collaborative design principles in public services. In the intervening years, co-design has caught hold as an ideal for transforming services - promising to make them more responsive, fit-for-purpose, and efficient. More broadly, co-design provides an avenue for building social capital, and addressing a disengagement from politics and democracy.

Their new discussion paper takes stock of co-design’s progress. It is based on a ground-breaking international survey of 466 public service practitioners. The survey confirms that co-design is an international movement, gaining enthusiastic support across the globe. However, while this enthusiasm is clear, equally so are the challenges those responsible for implementing co-design are facing.

Their key finding is that we should not simply be asking: ‘How can we do more co-design’. Instead, we are faced with more complex issues. What kind of co-design works, and in what contexts? What kind of organisational cultures support greater, more successful co-design?

Download survey (pdf, 53 pages)