The Ripple Framework: evaluating the research value of a generative co-design framework

This chapter critically reflects on the Ripple Framework (RF) research value, a co-design methodology devised as part of an academic research project aimed at enhancing the welfare of Scotland’s care sector workers over 50. The RF was intended to encourage innovative action (“intrapreneurship”) and was deployed across six care homes in Scotland. Data was generated through early ethnographic studies, followed by bespoke co-design pathways comprising multiple methods with each site. Drawing on this rich data set, the chapter lays down six care home context-problems and the alternative future scenarios that were generated across multiple perspectives through this collaborative inquiry. In evaluating the RF for its research value (after Knutz & Markussen 2019), we find that it significantly aided care workers in challenging normative expectations of design outcomes within the project team. However, the framework will benefit from further iteration to reach its full potential as a transferable co-design framework.