Konsensusdesign

Konsensusdesign is a design philosophy and practice that emphasizes gathering diverse stakeholder input to reach shared decisions across product, service, or urban design projects. The term is used in design literature to describe a collaborative, consensus-seeking approach rather than top-down mandates.

Core principles include inclusive participation, transparent decision-making, iterative prototyping, accessibility, and sustainability. The goal is to align user needs, business goals, and technical feasibility through a negotiated consensus rather than authoritative specification.

Practices commonly associated with konsensusdesign include co-design workshops, multi-stakeholder interviews, rapid prototyping, and decision logs that record rationales for moves and trade-offs. Facilitators employ structured activities to surface conflicting priorities and build shared ownership of outcomes.

Applications span digital products and services, public sector programs, and architectural or urban design projects where public or user involvement is integral. In UX and service design, konsensusdesign often overlaps with participatory design and design thinking methodologies.

Critiques note that consensus processes can be time-consuming and may yield compromises that satisfy no one fully. Proponents counter that structured facilitation and clear governance can mitigate delays while improving legitimacy and adoption of outcomes.