Our Barcelona office opened in October 2010. Co-creation at the front end of the design development process is our passion.
At the fuzzy front end, it’s not always clear whether the deliverable of the design process will be a product, a service, an interface, or a building, etc. In this increasingly critical phase, there are many complex considerations to undertake, e.g. empathy with the users and understanding the contexts of use, exploration and selection of technological opportunities such as new materials and information technologies, etc.
The goal of explorations at the front end is to determine what is to be designed and sometimes what should not be designed or manufactured. The fuzzy front end is followed by the traditional design process where the resulting ideas for product, service, interface, etc, are developed first into concepts, and then into prototypes that are refined on the basis of the feedback of future users.
Co-creation actively involves all stakeholders (internal teams, clients, suppliers, consumers, users, designers…) in the design process to ensure that services and products meet or exceed the needs and expectations of the people that they serve. Co-creation also provokes their creativity by using creative and design thinking tools. In this way, co-creation processes generate excellent results for innovation in the design practice.
A key belief in the practice of co-creation is that people are able to generate new ideas and make decisions relevant to their future needs and dreams. Thus, new methods, tools and techniques are being created and refined to inform and inspire design teams and companies on their paths to innovation. The tools and techniques of co-creation work at a collective level. By triggering their collective creativity, people are empowered to work together to unfold their expectations, explore future scenarios and generate new opportunities based on their knowledge and experience.
What we do
- Empathise with their future users, especially at the beginning stages of the design process—through co-creation methods and tools.
- Optimise experiences. Generate new ideas and opportunities for optimal experience for all the stakeholders in the process—through co-creation strategies.
- Imagine and facilitate change. Provide a scaffold for collaboration and continued elaboration and refinement of ideas and insights—through a co-creation mindset.
The participation of all stakeholders at the initial stages of the design process is needed in order to:
- Provide a common language for all of them to use
- Understand the relevant needs/issues of future users and customers
- Understand the relevant needs/issues of the company and its clients
- Align the design opportunities with the company’s business objectives
- Find new product, service and business opportunities
- Formulate the design briefing efficiently
- Translate those needs/issues in actionable solutions
- Optimise resources by speeding up the subsequent design and development process
- Lead to innovation in design
