I have completed a BSc (Hons) in Applied Psychology (Technology path) at IADT. I am a mature student and I returned to studying after over a twenty years gap. Currently, I work at Saint John of God as an Assistive Technology Facilitator, a position I really enjoy. I plan to continue my education with completing a MSc in Human Computer Interaction, and my main interest is how to support people with disabilities effectively.
The project is a rapid structured literature review on the topic of co-designing digital applications with and for people with intellectual disability (PwID). The basis of any society is the equal, inclusive, and fair treatment of every citizen where individual rights are respected, and everyone can reach their full potential. These rights are enshrined in the Irish legislation and the UN sustainable development goals: Goal 10: reduced inequalities (Goal 10 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs, n.d.). As a direct consequence when designing a service, a tool, a community project, the design process needs to include everyone who will use the solution, including individuals with intellectual disability. During the last 15 years, designing with PwID within a co-design setting has gained traction and this design practice has become more frequent.
People with intellectual disabilities (PwID) face unique challenges in accessing services, and digital applications. Co-design is the best practice to create inclusive and effective tools that allows the users with disability to independently engage with the solution or service. When an individual with ID take part in co-design, this promotes participation and research inclusion, leading to more inclusive design outcomes and a more inclusive society (Whittle, 2014). This inclusion of disability, then facilitates collaboration with designers which in turn increases the collective creativity and can lead to novel solutions (Bayor et al., 2021b).
The aim of this rapid structured literature review is to create a systematic, critical, and analytical overview of the selected literature on the topic of co-designing with people with intellectual disability. The review examines the co-design practice, the methodologies applied, tools utilised, and the findings of the researchers. This review intends to identify those methodological elements that were deemed successful, the psychological phenomenon that can enhance the co-design process while pinpointing to the challenges and the gaps in the applied processes. Special attention is paid to any accessible tools employed, their impact on the design outcome, and the specific ethical considerations related to the participants with intellectual disability. The resulting paper hopefully can add to the current body of co-design literature and can aid the development of this field further.