Building for all

Building for everyone with everyone

User needs · Co-design

Co-design supports innovation by involving the people who use a product or service in the creation process and goes beyond traditional user research. Prioritize engaging with people of varied backgrounds and experiences and remember that building with everyone is an ongoing process. By actively engaging with communities that are often overlooked, you can build products that are more beneficial for everyone. Validate your assumptions and discover new opportunities by conducting market research with a broad range of people.

Questions to consider

• What are some opportunities to address user needs keeping in mind attributes of people and their contexts? 

  • Who else can benefit from the product? 
  • What are their needs? 
  • How are you making sure overlooked communities are included in ongoing testing? 

• How are you engaging community members and experts early and often throughout the development process? 

  • How will their feedback shape key decisions about feature priorities, functionality, and messaging? 
  • How can you continue to apply these insights as you move from the ideation phase to other stages of product development? 
  • What are some opportunities to gain even more insights? 

• What are the risks and potential harms if you exclude people from overlooked communities? 

  • How can you address them? 

• If your tool uses ML or AI, what can you do to mitigate the risk of bias? This collection of resources can help.