Co-creation (buzzword, but a good one)

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Email to Fergal (not his real name):

Hi Fergal,

Iā€™ve been meaning to say to you, the last [Virtual Reality Health App Project] meeting went really wellā€¦

I loved that we followed aĀ co-creationĀ process where everyone contributed and lots of post-it notes were involved. I loved that it was aĀ cross-functional teamĀ (Iā€™veĀ italicisedĀ  tech industry/academia buzz wordsĀ Iā€™ve used in this email to indicate they are not just weird terms Iā€™ve made up.) I loved that is was aĀ cross-functional teamĀ comprising service users, a medical professional ā€“ yourself, a software developer and a project manager/facilitator type person (I forget the exact job title she gave herself.)ā€¦

I loved that we didĀ paper-prototypesĀ and that there were lots of post-it notes, stationary and arts/crafts materials. Apparently that was my idea. I must admit I donā€™t remember making the suggestion in the past, but Iā€™m glad I did,Ā itā€™s the sort of thing IĀ recommend. DoingĀ paper-prototypesĀ and generally scribbling on paper before writing any computer code were heavily advocated in my MSc in Human-Centred Computer Systems at University of Sussex ā€“ and I can see why ā€“ I thought it went very well.

So Iā€™m much more optimistic about the project and I applaud you for having the courage to drop some of the previous work and toĀ iterate, make aĀ course correction, and beĀ agile. AllĀ buzz wordsĀ they use in industryĀ but industry rarely actually do.

ā€¦ a pleasure to be involved in this research and development project, and Iā€™m excited to see what comes next.

Best wishes,

Louie Christie