Participatory and creative methods

The people most affected by a service, policy or system hold knowledge that no dataset can capture. We use participatory and creative methods to help clients bring that knowledge into the design, delivery and improvement of services, policies and systems.

Participation with purpose

Our participatory methods are designed so that service users, practitioners, communities and people with lived experience have genuine influence on research questions, tools and approaches; service design; findings and recommendations. This might take the form of co-production workshops or sprints, peer research, lived experience advisory groups or collaborative sense-making. The common thread is that participation has real purpose and real impact, not just a tick-box presence in the process.

Creative methods for deeper insight

When traditional interviews or surveys won't get you to the truth of people's experiences, we reach for something different. Visual methods, storytelling, journey mapping, photo elicitation, video techniques and reflective workshops can open up conversations that more conventional approaches close down, particularly on sensitive issues or where people haven't always felt heard.

Inclusion built-in not bolted-on

Inclusive practice isn't an add-on for us; it's built into how we work. Whether we're working with children and young people, people experiencing multiple disadvantage, or communities facing structural barriers to support and opportunity, we adapt our methods to the people and context in front of us. That means considering emotional safety, accessibility and trauma-informed practice from the outset, not as an afterthought.

Together with our technical expertise in research and evaluation, these approaches produce findings that are not just rigorous; they are credible, useful and genuinely reflective of people's lives.

If you want research or evaluation that puts lived experience at the centre, we would love to talk.