Exploring Research Through Co-Design: Multiple Perspectives for Collaborative Inquiry

Over the past few decades, key studies have highlighted the benefits and challenges of co-design, emphasising its potential to generate creativity, improve research quality, and deliver user-centred outcomes. However, formalising co-design as a research method and establishing a unified framework for its application remains a challenge. This book addresses these issues by introducing and expanding the concept of Research through Co-Design (RTC).

This book offers an insightful examination of how co-design can revolutionise research practices across various disciplines. It introduces a cognitive model for RTC that is grounded in the Control Systems Theory (CST) and integrates elements from Research through Design (RTD). Bringing together contributions from 41 authors across 13 nations, this title provides a collection of cross-disciplinary perspectives and experiences covering STEM, design research, and the third or social economy sector. The 22 chapters showcase diverse applications and reveal the potential of co-design in producing knowledge and valuable insights and methodological approaches that can enhance research practices. By highlighting theoretical frameworks and practical case studies, the book illustrates how RTC can be effectively utilised in a range of academic and professional contexts.

The reader will gain a thorough understanding of RTC and how it can be utilised across multiple disciplines and settings. Exploring Research Through Co-Design: Multiple Perspectives for Collaborative Inquiry is an essential resource for researchers, academics, and students who are interested in leveraging co-design as a research strategy, including those in the fields of human factors and ergonomics, design thinking, engineering, social economy projects, and other multidisciplinary contexts.

Daniele Busciantella Ricci is Assistant Professor at the University of Florence’s Department of Architecture, Italy. He has over a decade of experience in design research, participatory design, and social innovation and has collaborated with institutions and communities worldwide. His research focuses on design for social inclusion and innovation, working in research laboratories such as IDEE Lab and DRLab. He frequently participates in international conferences and has published extensively on design. Busciantella-Ricci co-founded Codesign Toscana and is a member of the Design Research Society, the Italian Design Society, and the Italian Society of Ergonomics and Human Factors. He was awarded the European Commission’s Seal of Excellence for the proposal underpinning the DesIA project, which explores the Design for Inclusive Attitudes approach with Research through Co-design.

Sofia Scataglini is Biomedical Engineer and Visiting Professor at Antwerp University, Belgium, specializing in Digital Human Modelling (DHM) and wearables for ergonomics and health. She holds the title of European Ergonomist (Eur.Erg.), CREE. Sofia is a member of the International Ergonomics Association’s (IEA) Scientific
Committee and chairs the IEA Technical Committee on DHM and Simulation. She founded the Digital Human Modeling by Women (DHMW) group and organizes conferences on human factors and ergonomics. She is an active editor, writer, and reviewer, and her research focuses on designing health and well-being products using co-design and user-centred design methods.