Co-design, evaluation and the Northern Ireland Innovation Lab

Figures & data

Figure 1. Design research landscape (adapted from Sanders & Stappers, 2008, p. 5).

Table 1. Research participants.

Category of research participant	iLab staff	Senior civil servants	Project sponsors in NICS	External stakeholders	Total
Number of interviews	9	2	14	5	30

Table 2. Overview of iLab projects.

No.	Title	Method	Department of	Progressed to implementation as of September 2016	Cost*
1	Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA)	Design	Economy	✓	£28,000
2	Banking services	Design	Finance	✓	£11,200
3	Procurement	Design	Finance		£28,000
4	Reward and recognition	Design	Employment and Learning		£28,000
5	Data analytics	Design	Finance	✓	£34,000
6	Realizing savings from procurement	Design	Finance		£8,600
7	Shared services	Design	Finance	✓	£34,000
8	Non-domestic rates	Design	Finance	✓	£34,000
9	Dementia 1	Design	Health		£85,000
10	NICS travel services	Design	Finance		£8,600
11	Benefit uptake	Behavioural insights	Communities	✓	£8,600
12	Voluntary sector funding	Design	Communities	✓	£34,000
13	Waste	Design	Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs	[Live]**	£60,000
14	Court fines	Behavioural insights	Justice	[Live]	£8,600
15	Rent arrears	Design	Communities	✓	£8,600
16	Dementia 2	System dynamics	Health	[Live]	£15,000
17	Medicine optimization	Design	Health	✓	£60,000
18	Debt services	Design	Finance	[Live]	£45,000
Total					£539,200

* Cost estimated based on staff time and external expertise.

** A live project at the time of the evaluation.

Figure 2. Double diamond adapted by Siodmok (2014).

Table 3. Project journey.

Project stage	Description	Timescale
Scoping	Scope the project topic with the department and sign a memorandum of understanding.	2 months
Discover	Gathering user insights through interviews, focus groups and/or observation.	2 months
Define	Defining the challenge through a two-day workshop with stakeholders.	2 days
Develop	Jointly create ideas with a broad user group, refine the concepts with a different user group and test low fidelity prototypes with users.	4 months
Deliver	Submit a business case to implement an integrated solution, upscale and implement.	3 years
Evaluate	Evaluate the process, outputs and outcomes.	1 month

Sanders, E., & Stappers, P. J. (2008). Co-creation and the new landscapes of design. Co-Design, 4(1), 5–18.

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Siodmok, A. (2014). Tools for insight: Design research for policymaking. In C. Bason (Ed.), Design for policy (pp. 191–200). Surrey, UK: Gower Publishing.

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