Breaking it down: teams’ thoughts on Co-creation Patterns
We got the ball rolling and used Co-creation Patterns with teams.
If you’re wondering what Co-creation Patterns is, it’s a methodology we created that aims to provide clear guiding systems to make team collaboration more aligned and efficient. So we worked with teams who were seeking to improve their creative process with our Co-creation Patterns methodology and guide them to put it into practice.
In this two-part series, we talked to the teams at Ueno, Cocolab and Medtronic about their experience with the methodology.
“Co-Creation Patterns bring that flexibility that matches perfectly with our values and work practices.” — David Navarro, Ueno
1. What was your idea of the creative process before learning about Co-Creation Patterns?
David Navarro, Executive Creative Director at Ueno (DN): I'm a believer in a free and chaotic process to define creativity, so any framework by default feels strict and doesn't match with those values. Was I reluctant with Co-Creation Patterns? Of course, I was, and you won't believe what happened next.
Josué Ibáñez, Founder at Cocolab (JI): I had a similar creative process. However, the Co-Creation Patterns methodology has opened up my eyes to the importance of synthesizing concepts.
Laura Flores Mencia, Consultant at Medtronic (LF): There wasn’t even a “process”. It was always a mess of last-minute ideas put together, with most not taking into consideration of necessary inputs. As a medical-technological company, we weren’t used to working in this way, but the methodology has really helped us a lot in opening our minds to different disciplines.
2. How has Co-creation Patterns modified your approach to individual and teamwork design process?
DN: Co-creation Patterns is a unified framework that’s helped us to be more efficient and creative in a way that doesn't imply rigid systems, which I think is key for creative development. It also brings flexibility that matches perfectly with our values and work practices.
JI: It makes things more clear for us, in terms of communication and expectations in our team; they know what is the purpose of each session.
LF: Co-creation patterns has helped us to organize teamwork, helped us be on the same page, and has allowed us to take our time in developing every step to select better ideas.
“As a medical-technological company, we weren’t used to working in this way, but the methodology has really helped a lot in opening our minds to different disciplines.” — Laura Flores Mencia, Medtronic
3. Now, the cheeky bit – which Co-creation phase or a combination of phases do you feel most identified with and why?
DN: As a creative, I would say the Open Triangle phase but I personally love the Closed Triangle, since it's the phase where you can make decisions that can lead to opportunities to discover and define paths that truly show your true creative potential.
JI: As creatives, we feel more identified with the Open Triangle phase. We try to search for ideas right away, however, we see the importance when understanding a creative process, and we believe that it’s a phase that could lead you to powerful and meaningful projects.
LF: For me, it would be the Circle, Square, Open Triangle, Star, Close Triangle, Circle combination. It helps you to first contextualise the need, analyse the externalities, start generating ideas, then gather ideas from outside, and lastly prioritise and see if the ideas selected to cover all the initial needs.