JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the work environment to a new reality of remote work and virtual collaboration. This shift has occurred in various work settings with an impact on spaces, approaches, applied techniques and tools. It has resulted in the broad use of virtual tools in the healthcare sector to avoid physical encounters and in-person interactions that will likely far outlast the COVID-19 pandemic. Developing effective virtual approaches requires the knowledge and skills to use digital technologies collaboratively combined with a deep understanding of the context(s) of where these approaches may be used. The implementation of virtual health design methods like online co-design, have increased to meet the realities of COVID 19 restrictions are likely to outlast them. Adapting the use of design methodologies like co-design to a virtual configuration requires rethinking methods of collaboration, communication, adapting to new virtual environments, and creating new methods of engagement and facilitation. In this paper we reviewed current standards for best-practice in co-design (in person/online) to propose techniques for the design, planning, and implementation of online co-design sessions. We present key online co-design principles, techniques, planning and implementation processes, and propose 7 factors that may enable online co-design projects in the healthcare sector. The key factors that impact the success of an online co-design approach should be considered in the process of planning, developing, and conducting an online co-design session. These factors include: facilitation, collaboration, accessibility and equity, communication, sensemaking, tangible tools and games, and online research ethics. We illustrate this work with a case study of co-design for an emergency department discharge tool developed during the pandemic.