Codesign with people living with cognitive or sensory impairments: a case for method stories and uniqueness

Codesign with people living with cognitive or sensory impairments poses challenges for researchers and designers, due to differences in their mutual experiences and due to the fact that many well-established codesign methods and techniques may not be appropriate and need adjustment. This paper describes a search for an appropriate, dedicated methodological approach for involving people living with impairments in codesign projects. Based on both existing literature and on a series of three academic workshops, we aimed to understand how researchers and designers adjust common codesign techniques and to derive general principles from those adjustments. During our search for a dedicated codesign approach, however, we came to change our view, and therefore our aims. The outcomes of the workshops, more specifically the identification of common challenges that researchers and designers experience, showed that such a dedicated approach may not be the best way to advance the field of codesign methods for people living with impairments. Instead, we now advocate a highly individual approach towards adjusting codesign techniques. In addition, we suggest a new tradition of sharing experiences in order for researchers and designers to learn from one another in the form of method stories.