Integrating Theory in Co-design: An Abductive Approach

Abstract

Co-design empowers people, giving them a voice in social marketing program design; however, approaches have mostly excluded expert knowledge. An abductive approach to co-design allows for inclusion of expert knowledge, providing theoretical guidance while simultaneously investigating user views and ideas extending understanding beyond known effective approaches. We use the seven-step co-design framework and outline how an abductive inference can be applied to co-design. Social cognitive theory constructs were integrated into the seven-step co-design process. The abductive approach to co-design was tested in two co-design sessions involving 40 participants. Findings demonstrate that theory can be successfully integrated into the seven-step co-design process through utilization of theory-mapped activity cards. This article provides guidance on how theory can be incorporated into ideation and insight generation. Limitations and future research recommendations are provided.