Four co-design steps to improve your evaluations

For me, the benefit of co-design is that it breaks down the ‘us vs. them’ divide. People taking part in evaluations need to be fully involved partners, not observers, evaluation shouldn’t be something that is ‘done to people’.

The advantage of a collaborative approach, is that it actively involves the people impacted by or using a service throughout the evaluation design process. That partnership can also boost confidence in the findings, and makes the overall experience more rewarding. In all honesty, it makes me enjoy my job more. But aside from ethics or enjoyment, it’s better for the quality of your data.

Co-design produces higher quality, more accessible data collection tools that participants can easily understand and engage with. Here are four ways we use co-design to improve the way we do programme and impact evaluation:

1. Get on the same page
   Set out why a co-design process is appropriate and what decisions it will inform. Include who the relevant people are that need to be involved, and what makes it worthwhile for them to participate. Get everyone on board by engaging them early to collectively plan out the co-design process. This is also the point to identify any limitations to co-design. That might be a requirement to use specific tools or evaluation methods. Make sure everyone is clear on the parameters and limits of the evaluation.

1. Open up access, make it easy to get involved
   Evaluation is filled with jargon, from ‘realist’ to ‘theory-based’ evaluations and people trying to wrap their heads around the difference between an ‘output’, ‘outcome’ and ‘impact’. This language can create a barrier to people engaging with evaluations. Use language everyone can understand as far as you can. Where jargon is unavoidable, create a glossary and provide resources or training to support people who will be co-designing with you. This could be as simple as a pre-reading pack or building extra time into your design workshops. Asking people what they need or how they would like to engage with co-design is the simplest way to support involvement.
2. Develop better theory of change and logic models
   One of the most valuable areas where we use co-design is mapping out the logic model or theory of change for a programme or evaluation. These are where we map out the change the programme is trying to make and the activities and processes which are going to make that change happen.By involving service users and participants in this early stage, we can identify the outcomes that are most relevant and important to their lives, they help define what actual impact looks like. This ensures that the evaluation then measures what’s really important.
3. Choose better data collection tools
   A big part of co-design is giving participants real decision-making power over the tools we’ll use. This is how we can make sure the proposed surveys, interviews, or whichever chosen tool will work for this particular group.Together we examine the insights each one provides, how they’ll complement each other and when they’ll be used. Then we refine them, for example looking at the language to see if it could be clearer or more accessible.

People taking part in evaluations need to be fully involved partners, not observers

Since people often interpret things differently, doing this work to engage people ensures everyone is on the same page about the goals of the evaluation right from the start. And by creating and selecting the tools together, you usually get better response rates. For example, you can read about how we worked with Oxleas NHS Trust and used co-design to improve support for patients while they waited for care.