by Ezgi Eyigor

When people think about co-design, they usually think about the most visible successes: the collaborative synergy, the "aha" moments, the outputs. But as IDEO.org’s senior portfolio coordinator, I live in the details: the emails, the thank-you cards, the behind-the-scenes coordination that make those breakthroughs possible.

Focusing on the granular details is crucial when bringing people together, especially when they're set to tackle complex issues like health equity or economic justice and carrying a range of lived experiences. The logistics and operations happening behind the scenes are just as important as cultural practices when it comes to building trust, mutual respect, and open communication.

Right now, as many of us are being called on to build new partnerships in uncertain times, we’re finding that the tools we use to bring people into shared work—whether through co-design or lighter-touch forms of collaboration—feel more relevant than ever. In this piece, I'll spotlight three key moments that are critical for successfully bringing a group together, along with the specific tools we use to make them as effective as possible.

The Work Before the Work

We put a lot of care into our onboarding process so that every external collaborator—whether a co-designer, researcher, or participant—knows exactly what they’re stepping into from the very start. We lay out the scope clearly and foster an environment where everyone is encouraged to openly discuss what they can realistically manage, taking into account other commitments like jobs, school, and caregiving responsibilities. Starting a project on the right foot means giving people the tools to set realistic expectations from the beginning.

During a COVID-19 vaccine confidence project with youth co-designers, we initially assumed that participants in our cohort would be eager to take on leadership roles, and our early visions for the project were based on that assumption. But after giving them the tools to assess and voice their capacity, it became clear that they preferred to contribute in low ways. They were still managing the demands of virtual school and other life responsibilities, opting for roles that better suited their available time and energy.

One of our go-tools we use is a welcome book. Sent out to individuals before the start of a project, the book contains all critical information: project goals, timelines, key details, and engagement guidelines, presented in an engaging and easy-to-digest format. We also rely on tools like Doodle to schedule group sessions, Typeform for well-designed surveys that people actually want to answer, and Calendly to make one-on-one scheduling painless. Together, these help get everyone on the same page from the start and set the tone for the road ahead.

Removing the Barriers to Entry

Once expectations are set and everyone’s ready to gather, we focus on making each session as easy and comfortable to attend as possible. That means thinking through the logistics—childcare, meals, language access, and flexible compensation—so people can actually show up and participate. We've found that when the experience feels seamless, it builds trust and goodwill.

In San Jose, we co-designed a trauma-informed assessment with families receiving services from a large social service provider. Many of our co-designers were balancing multiple jobs and caregiving, so we held sessions in the evenings, offered on-site childcare, and provided meals. We also brought in simultaneous interpreters for Spanish and Vietnamese, planning ahead so everyone could contribute in the language they felt most at ease. These kinds of supports aren’t nice-to-haves—they’re foundational if you want people to be able to focus on the work. They also signal that people’s time and voices are really valued.

We use simple spreadsheets to track participants' needs—like meeting preferences or language support—so we can plan with care. We also often work with INGCO International to bring in trusted interpreters, especially when working internationally across multiple languages.

Ending on a High Note

How we close an engagement matters just as much as how we start it—and yet, it’s often the easiest thing to overlook.

Given the nature of our business model, designers often roll into the next project as soon as one end, which is where our operations and partnerships teams step back in. We make sure nothing gets left hanging—whether that’s delivering final materials, sending thank-yous, or making sure everyone knows what’s next.

Thank-you’s are one of my favorite final touches. At the end of a project with an independent school district in Texas, we sent teachers care packages with rest-themed reflection cards and coffee from a local shop they’d mentioned in passing. The gifts reflected what we heard throughout the project: the need to pause and the small comforts that kept them going.For a childcare project, we created custom coloring books with illustrations from the work, each one signed by our team. These weren’t random parting gifts but tokens of appreciation, rooted in what we’d learned and shared together.

But gratitude doesn’t always need to be a gift. We host a post-flight session as a final moment for reflection, feedback and for participants to see the whole of their contributions. These gatherings also serve as a meaningful gesture of thanks, and internally, it helps us understand how well we honored everyone’s hopes and boundaries.

Ending with intention gives people space to process what they’ve been part of, and when a project ends on a high note, it’s a lot easier to reopen the door when the next opportunity comes around