Reflections on co-producing the new Co-Production Collective website

Hi! I’m Adeola Agunbiade, a Mental Health Lived Experience Expert involved with Co-Production Collective. I am currently a member of the Communications sub group which has the responsibility of supporting the Collective with its communications. This support has included the redevelopment of the new website. In this blog, I’ll be sharing my experience of being a co-producer on this journey and what I have learnt. I will also be sharing how I feel the values of co-production were embraced.

Following the results of the End of Year Survey, carried out in 2022, now referred to as the Community Survey, the Collective launched a call to its members to join the communications sub group to support the Collective’s communications effort. One major part of this was the redevelopment of the new website.

I had been involved with the Collective for a short period of time and it had made a big impression on me. I recognised the difficulty in accessing the website especially for co-producers in search of co-production opportunities and this led me to apply to be part of the communications sub group.

The sub group is a diverse group of five co-producers, some of whom have experience in marketing communications and others like me who are passionate about the work the Collective is doing.

In the first meeting of the sub group, we were joined by George who is a member of the Collective’s staff team. She was extremely kind and transparent about what the Collective lacked in terms of communications and the current resources to improve. We discussed the re-development of the website, prioritising the ease of users in accessing the website. As a group, we reviewed the content and structure for the website. Each member of the sub group gave valuable suggestions that were further incorporated into the proposed content and structure shared with the group.

Initially we developed a skeletal structure of how the website would look. Then we went into the detail of the content comparing it with the former website and other websites whose functions we wanted to adopt. Some of the ideas for content were to find a way to provide a clearer explanation for what Co-Production Collective does as well as an easier way for people to find opportunities to get involved.

During this process, the meetings and the feedback system set up by George provided a safe environment to ensure free expression of my thoughts and dissatisfaction with the former website. I was also provided ample opportunities to give suggestions and new ideas. It was a wonderful experience being able to give my ideas and this feedback freely and see it incorporated in each step of the redevelopment and eventually the launched website which you see today.

My favourite part of the process was building the structure and content with the other co-producers. I had the chance to add sections and include lots of content. Building this with other co-producers meant that they shared ideas I had not even thought of. This made me appreciate the diversity of the group.

Apart from the ideas shared in the meetings, the sub group along with members of the wider Collective community had the opportunity to review the website before the launch and share any specific feedback.

How the values of co-production guided the redevelopment of the website

The values of co-production we were guided by can be found on the website. They are: Inclusive, Transparent, Embracing of change, Kind and Reflective.

Inclusive: the sub group was heavily involved the decision making in the redevelopment. As a group we acknowledged that no individual had all the answers, rather as a group, along we the team and the wider collective, a wide range of voices made the decisions.

Transparent: In the initial stages of the planning of the redevelopment of the website the Collective formed the Communications sub group. The group had the opportunity to receive all the information on the redevelopment of the website in the initial stages of the project. This meant giving fresh ideas and not simply feedback.

Embracing of change: the redevelopment of the website is a very public project as it is how Co-Production Collective presents itself to the world. It showed how Co-Production Collective was willing to make adjustments to cater to the needs of its members. As a sub group this was very exciting and provided opportunities for us and other members of the community to make a real impact.

Kind: the members of the communications sub group were kind individuals who had empathy and an immerse respect for each other. We were also treated with this same kindness by George. This made the meetings ones I looked forward to.

Reflective: The feedback given by the sub group and other community members gave many opportunities for reflection and sometimes meant the team had to go back to the drawing board and rethink how best to display content on the website after receiving a fresh perspective.

As a Lived experience expert, making impact really matters to me. Co-production Collective and the Communications sub group has given me a great opportunity to do so and I hope it has for you too.

Thanks to everyone who was involved in co-producing our new website I hope it brings you joy seeing your ideas implemented. A big thank you to our web development partner Big Lemon for making our collective vision a reality and George, Krisztina and the rest of the staff team for helping make it happen.

To help you get acquainted with the new website here are the key features to look out for:

• A new ‘About Us' section which includes the latest Allies Group notes as well as our Impact Reports.
• A new ‘What we offer’ section dedicated to what we do in the areas of training, consultancy, research and talks.
• A new ‘Championing co-production’ section where you will find out ‘What co-production means to us, The Value of Co-production' research project and much, much, more.
• A new ‘Get involved’ section with all the ways you can get involved in the activities of the Collective including a ‘Current Opportunities’ message board, our policies and ways of working.

Stay co-producing!

PS As Co-Production Collective mentioned in their email to you in early January. “There are certain changes we can only make to the website once it is live, like updating all the links. So please bear with us as we do our best to get it fully functional as quickly as possible. If you have any questions or feedback about the website, please email us on coproduction@ucl.ac.uk

Photo credit: Canva