Skip to content

7. Co-Design Plan

How to use this activity

This activity supports practical application of the concepts in your lesson.

  1. Download this activity as a docx file
  2. Work through the activity step by step. Keep your answers concise and focused
  3. Return to your lesson when you are done.

What to do: Identify who to involve, what decisions they can shape, and how input will be used

Expected output: A practical co-design plan

Approximate time: 20–30 minutes

Used in

Before you start

You will typically need:

  • Outputs from earlier activities (if applicable)
  • Notes from your current lesson
⬇ Download as .docx

Instructions

Decide who has a voice in designing this training — and what that voice actually shapes. A co-design plan is only meaningful if it specifies real decisions that participants can influence, not just consultation that gets filed away.

You will use

Current situation

  • Who designed the training? List the people or roles involved in key decisions.
  • Who made the decisions about content, format, delivery, and assessment?

Power analysis

Decision Who currently decides? Who should be involved?

Gaps

  • Where are learners or communities excluded from decision-making?
  • Pick one learner constraint from Activity 3: Learner Reality Mapping and ask: whose perspective is missing from how this constraint is handled?

Plan for co-design

  • What specific decisions can be shared with learners or other stakeholders?
  • How will you involve participants meaningfully — not just ask for feedback, but give them real influence?
  • What methods will you use? (workshops, feedback loops, co-creation sessions, advisory groups)
  • Pick one learner group from Activity 3: Learner Reality Mapping and describe how you will involve them.

If you are creating a new training

Design your co-design approach from the start. This is your chance to build participation into the process before decisions get locked in.

  • Who should have a say in shaping this training? List at least 3 stakeholders or groups, drawing on your Activity 1: System Map.
  • For each, identify one specific decision they could influence (e.g., content priorities, delivery format, scheduling, assessment approach).
  • What method will you use to get their input? Be concrete — "we'll consult stakeholders" is not a plan. Specify whether you will run a workshop, send a survey, hold interviews, or something else.

Translation to your learners

  • How will this co-design approach work for your specific participants? Consider language, access, power dynamics, and whether the methods you chose are realistic for the people involved.

Context check

  • What limits meaningful participation? Think about institutional gatekeeping, time, geography, digital access, and power imbalances that could make co-design performative rather than real.
  • If full co-design is not feasible, what is the most meaningful level of participation you can achieve?

Trade-offs

List at least two design trade-offs you are making. For each, record what you chose, what you gave up, and why.

Decision What I chose What I gave up Why

Reflection

  • What would genuinely change about your training if you shared control over key decisions? If the answer is "nothing," revisit whether your co-design plan involves real influence or just consultation.

Reuse in later sections