King's College London

Through an exploration of (a) the origins and evolution of co-design and (b) the recent application of related practices in the context of improving the quality of healthcare services we argue for closer attention to be paid to such activities within broader co-production processes. We draw a distinction between additive and transformative forms of co-production and highlight how co-design itself can be a transformative process. We suggest that contemporary studies of Experience-based Co-design in the healthcare sector may offer insights for the nature and impact of co-production in other sectors. These could particularly inform appropriate and robust forms of both summative and formative evaluation as well as highlighting potential benefits and risks from ‘scaling up’ co-design as an intervention to enhance the delivery of public services.