Organisations today – from startups to large enterprises – face unprecedented challenges, technological disruption, shifting consumer expectations, and intensifying competition. Success demands more than incremental improvements, it requires strategic innovation that delivers tangible business value.
This is where Co-Design Workshops emerge as powerful tools.
Particularly for Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) seeking to gain a competitive advantage, without needing to incur costs associated with research and development (R&D) programs.
What is a Co-Design Workshop?
Co-design workshops are in-person, collaborative sessions that harness diverse perspectives to solve complex business challenges. These aren't your typical brainstorming meetings. At its core, co-design is underpinned by structured activities that guide participants through creative discovery, ideation, prototyping, and implementation.
Participants of the workshops can include your employees, customers, subject-matter experts, researchers, and industry professionals. The process empowers everyone involved to define the problem (or problems), contribute ideas, and work together toward tailored, actionable strategies that drive results.
When workshops are held in purpose-built environments, like La Trobe’s Digital Innovation Hub, the impact is amplified. Equipped with cutting-edge technologies such as 5G networks, AI and Machine Learning infrastructure, Augmented Reality devices, drones, digital twins, and IoT and sensor systems, our Hub offers an ideal environment for transforming innovative ideas into real-world implementable business outcomes.
Beyond individual projects and Co-Design Workshop activities, working within spaces like Digital Innovation Hub also opens doors to a vibrant ecosystem of leading researchers, industry partners like Medibank, Coles Group and VivaZome, and a pipeline of talented students. This network can be invaluable for future collaborations and talent acquisition.
Benefits for your business
Co-design workshops provide notable advantages over traditional decision-making or problem-solving methods:
Discovery
Co-design encourages a creative, and importantly, a comprehensive exploration of the root causes behind issues. It avoids surface-level fixes by involving all stakeholders who experience a problem firsthand. We start by understanding your business, goals, and challenges.
Industry Example: Coles Group sought to create a more sustainable shopping experience, with the goal of ‘helping all Australians live and eat healthier happier lives’.
Accelerated innovation & fresh perspectives
The collaboration between diverse stakeholders yields fresh ideas and perspectives. Each participant contributes unique insights, enhancing creative thinking and reducing the time and cost associated with in-house R&D.
Industry Example: The use of co-design workshops by the Australian Institute of Marine Science and the Digital Innovation Hub to design an AI-based 3D reconstruction system for coral reef health monitoring. The outcome was more accurate data collection but also engaging tools like virtual tours for public education, unlocking new avenues for outreach and data utilisation.
Tailored solutions: Strategic prototyping
Co-design workshops move away from the one-size-fits-all approach. They are designed to create solutions that are specific to your business needs, goals, and constraints, ensuring maximum relevance and impact.
Stronger Stakeholder buy-in & smooth implementation
When stakeholders actively participate in the solution process, they are more likely to accept and champion the final outcomes. By including employees, customers, and partners in workshops, businesses build alignment, reducing resistance to change and accelerating implementation.
Reducing risk in order to make smarter investment decisions
Co-design workshops create opportunities to test and refine ideas before full-scale implementation. By collaborating with experts and prototyping solutions, businesses can identify potential roadblocks and course-correct without incurring costly mistakes and wasted resources.
Industry Example: Polybee, an ag-tech start-up, collaborated with the Digital Innovation Hub on their autonomous indoor drones for plant monitoring. This included rapid prototyping to ensure the system was reliable and cost-effective. This process helps to validate technology, and de-risk investment, as well as optimise the use of drones for various tasks within indoor greenhouse facilities, such as plant monitoring, environmental control, and crop management.
Competitive advantage and future-proofing
Businesses that adopt co-design practices position themselves as agile innovators. This reputation attracts customers, partners, and top-tier talent. Additionally, co-design spurs early adoption of cutting-edge technologies, providing a significant competitive edge in rapidly changing markets and future-proofing your operations.
What do Co-Design Workshops look like?
A typical Co-Design Workshop is broken into four key stages:
Partner with La Trobe University’s Digital Innovation Hub
If you’re ready to harness the power of co-design and drive significant business growth, consider partnering with La Trobe University Digital Innovation Hub. Our workshops connect your business with world-class researchers, cutting-edge technology, and proven methodologies tailored to solving your unique challenges.
Supported by advanced digital babs, such as the Optus 5G Lab, Cisco Innovation Central Melbourne and Cisco - La Trobe Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things, our co-design sessions go beyond ideation. They deliver measurable business value through validated prototypes, competitive analysis, and a guided implementation process. Whether you’re exploring AI, IoT, or data-driven insights, we have the expertise to support your innovation roadmap and ensure a strong return on your collaboration.
Co-design workshops create a path to transform business challenges into sustainable opportunities and competitive advantages. By fostering collaboration, uncovering the root causes of problems, and delivering tailored solutions, these workshops provide tangible value across industries.
Don’t just solve problems. Use them as opportunities to innovate and grow your business. Take the first step by partnering with La Trobe University’s Digital Innovation Hub.
Together, we can design solutions that ensure your business thrives in today’s competitive landscape.
Email dih@latrobe.edu.au or visit the Digital Innovation Hub website to explore collaboration opportunities.
