My Life Book

Three Service Design Students from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) supported us during the Co-Design Phase. Since their involvement in this project the three students have now graduated.

This was an extremely useful learning experience for both us and for the graduates as we gained experience in each other’s approach and knowledge of how to engage older people in a co-production design process. It was also a welcome addition from the Working Group members.

“I enjoyed meeting Fiona and Stuart and learning about the work of Iriss. I also valued the contact with the students earlier on.”
—Reflections from an Older Person involved in the Working Groups

This is an experience that we enjoyed very much and would highly recommend to other organisations. Utilising the skills of design students and graduates where possible supported the developed service design solutions to be put in practice.

One of the graduates, Lorri Smyth, reflects on the learning she took away from working with Iriss in a special guest blog post.

“To work with Iriss on this project has been a great opportunity to observe some of the challenges and opportunities of co-design in practice. It certainly isn’t an easy thing to do. However, I strongly believe that involving people in the development of services is vital to tackling the challenges we face today and into the future.”
—Lorri Smyth, Masters of Design for Services Graduate

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A co-designed tool

Following their experience with Iriss two of the graduates, Lorri Smyth and Aishwarya Lyengar developed a co-designed tool that aims to enable improved communication between older people and the people who matter to them and care for them.

This resource was well received by the Hospital to Home working group with many members asking how the tool could be embedded locally in practice.

Lorri and Aishwarya are now working together to take this idea forward in Tayside. For more information please visit their website.