Designing for Collective Action: Utilizing Ostrom's Core-Relationship Model in the Co-design Process

Abstract

The relationship between commons research and co-design has gained increasing attention as design challenges become more complex. This study explores their connection, focusing on the early phase of co-design research known as the "pre-design" phase. It proposes utilizing Elinor Ostrom's Core-Relationship Model in co-design research to identify and address key factors in collective action problems. The re-search question guiding this study is: How does Ostrom's Core-Relationship Model inform the identification and addressing of key factors in collective action problems in co-design research?

To demonstrate the benefits of Ostrom's model, this study applies it to a specific use case involving the collective action problem of maintaining a clean shared space in a student-shared apartment in Finland. Data was collected through interviews with ten residents, two building representatives, and a housing advisor. The study follows a six-step process, including in vivo and pattern coding, identifying themes and sub-themes referencing the Core-Relationship model, exploring, and mapping structural variables, and linking them to core relationships to identify key variables.

The results reveal the complex linkages among variables and their impact on cooperation and collective action outcomes. Two key variables were identified: face-to-face communication and the absence of voluntary resident selections. However, the Core-Relationship Model has limitations in comprehensively examining collective action problems in co-design, as it overlooks external factors such as neglected infrastructure facilities and the involvement of housing services. To overcome the limitations, this thesis delved into exploring the integration and supplementation of other frameworks proposed by Ostrom, such as the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework and the Eight design principles, with the core-relationship model. The objective was to explore the potential complementary effects of these frameworks on the core-relationship model and enhance its application in co-design re-search.

This study contributes to the connection between commons literature and co-design by exploring the application of Ostrom's Core-Relationship Model and addressing its limitations. The findings evaluated the potential to introduce Ostrom's core-relationship model to co-design. This can potentially help co-design practitioners to incorporate external factors into their research and design processes. The findings of this thesis contribute to the ongoing movement of connecting commons literature and co-design, highlighting the importance of exploring different frameworks and developing innovative tools to expand the co-design knowledge repository.