At the Australian Public Health Conference 2026, Jessica Watterson, Ling Wu, and Jo Szczepańska facilitated an interactive workshop exploring how co-design can strengthen digital health, AI, and emerging technology projects.
The session brought together researchers, practitioners, students, and policymakers to discuss how engaging communities, consumers, carers, clinicians, and other stakeholders can help create more equitable, acceptable, and effective technologies.
We explored:
- The benefits of co-design in digital health, including AI
- Different levels of community engagement, human-centred design and co-design
- Practical methods for involving people throughout a project
Beyond the Methods
One of the key messages from the workshop was that methods are useful, but they are not everything.
Frameworks, toolkits, and activity cards can help expand your practice and provide structure, but there is no single “right” way to do co-design. What works in one setting may not work in another.
The most important ingredient is often curiosity: being willing to listen, learn, adapt, and respond to what communities and story holders are telling you.
Every co-design process is different
Each community, researcher, and project brings different experiences, priorities, and constraints.
Effective co-design requires flexibility. Sometimes a planned approach must change as new insights emerge or participants identify different needs and opportunities. Successful practitioners stay open to changing direction when something isn’t working.
Rather than following a rigid process, co-design builds relationships, creates opportunities for participation, and supports learning together.
Resources for Public Health Professionals
To support ongoing learning and application, the workshop facilitators shared a collection of human-centred design and co-design resources to get creativity flowing including:
Frameworks and Toolkits
- IDEO.org Design Kit
- The Art of Co-Design Framework and Toolkit
- Design Thinking Toolbook
Methods and Activities
- IDEO Method Cards
- Service Design Method Library
- Generative Design Method Cards
- NSW Health Method Cards
Recommended Reading
- Convivial Toolbox: Generative Research for the Front End of Design
- Beyond Sticky Notes: Co-design for Real
- The Art of Co-Design: A Guide to Creative Collaboration
Access the Resources
Whether you attended the workshop or missed the session, the presentation and accompanying resource collection are available to support your future projects.
Presentation Slides: Get a copy of the presentation
Digital quick links: View the links to resources
Resource Handout: Resources – Human-Centred Design and Co-Design in Public Health
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