The Ripple Framework: evaluating a generative co-design approach research value

This paper critically reflects on the research value of the Ripple Framework (RF), a co-design methodology devised as part of 'Healthier Working Lives' (HWL), a project which aimed to enhance the welfare of Scotland's care sector workers above the age of 50. The RF was intended to encourage innovative action (‘intrapreneurship’) and was deployed across six care homes in Scotland over a ten-month period between 2022 and 2023.

Data was generated through early ethnographic studies, followed by unique co-design pathways comprising multiple methods with each site. These bespoke co-design activities developed within the framework fostered organisational culture change and led to the formation of new relationships with design entrepreneurs.
Drawing on this rich data set, the paper describes the six care home context-problems (as defined by Mirel 2004) and the alternative future scenarios that were generated in each case. In evaluating the RF for its research value (Knutz and Markussen 2019, p.226), we find that it significantly aided care workers in developing new views on self-care, self-motivation, and cooperative leadership, while challenging normative expectations of design outcomes within the project team. The framework will benefit from further iteration to reach its potential as an effective relational approach. for planning organisational culture change strategies.