This article examines how collaborative design practices in higher education are reshaped through postdigital entanglement with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). We collectively explore how co-design, an inclusive, iterative, and relational approach to educational design and transformation, expands in meaning, practice, and ontology when GenAI is approached as a collaborator. The article brings together 19 authors and three open reviewers to engage with postdigital inquiry, structured in three parts: (1) a review of literature on co-design, GenAI, and postdigital theory; (2) 11 situated contributions from educators, researchers, and designers worldwide, each offering practice-based accounts of co-design with GenAI; and (3) an explorative discussion of implications for higher education designs and futures. Across these sections, we show how GenAI unsettles assumptions of collaboration, knowing, and agency, foregrounding co-design as a site of ongoing material, ethical, and epistemic negotiation. We argue that postdigital co-design with GenAI reframes educational design as a collective practice of imagining, contesting, and shaping futures that extend beyond human knowing.

The wellbeing of older adults is positively impacted by ease of access to social networks and opportunities. In urban fringe communities, longer geographical distances, combined with mobility and health issues, can lead to decreased access to community life. Technology can facilitate socialisation opportunities for older adults living in more geographically isolated locations, but we need to work with communities to better understand how technology can fit into their existing social tapestry and community infrastructure. We conducted an explorative, qualitative study consisting of in-depth semi-structured interviews with members of an urban fringe community (n = 2), and a community mapping focus group (n = 14). Transcripts and mapping materials were analysed thematically, and also the method’s suitability explored. The community mapping proved suitable to uncover the complexity of technology use to support social connectivity. We found that while technology was perceived as valuable by our participants, there were also significant fears and concerns surrounding its use related to the abstract concept of online friendship and the steep learning curve required to master some platforms. Inclusive communities connected by technology require tailored and customised community-led technology initiatives in order to accommodate for the unique social and geographical contexts in which they live. We outline the next steps for future research on technology-supported social connectivity within urban fringe communities.

Participatory design is a democratic process that involves direct collaboration with end-users to achieve design outcomes. In healthcare, patients are often considered the most valuable group to recruit into participatory design activities. However, when designing in unpredictable health settings with end-users who may be marginalised, direct designer-patient interaction is not always advisable, and as a result, designers may perceive that they are neglecting the fundamental democratic principles of participatory design. This article presents a communication design study that was conducted in an Australian children's hospital where clinicians were used as designer-patient mediators. I argue that the use of mediators can open up participation to a much wider range of end-users, including those that a designer cannot access, aligning with participatory design's democratic philosophy.

Co-design, where designers work directly with end-users to create design outcomes, is a successful and popular method for generating user-centred solutions in healthcare. However, partnering directly with end-users is not always possible or appropriate. This article looks at how the author’s 3-Corner Collaborative Design Model was utilized as an alternative to traditional co-design methods in the production of education materials for children and adolescents with Chronic Functional Constipation. With more designers venturing into the health and medical space, it is important that we consider how they can partner with discipline experts to work confidently, effectively and safely in this environment. This article positions the 3-Corner Collaborative Design Model as an appropriate fit for health education projects, when interaction with patients as end-users is not possible, due to its strategic positioning of designer, clinician and patient as knowledge experts and valued contributors.

There is an abundance of literature that shows that verbal communication is frequently misunderstood by patients. While verbal and textual information can be appropriate for health literate audiences, information tailored to the needs of children is limited. This chapter focuses on the education of child and adolescent patients and proposes that visual communication can address this gap through the use of collaboratively designed visual materials. Visuals have the benefit of making complex information accessible to various audiences and clinical populations. As well as being easily stored and re-called by cognitive systems, visuals are particularly beneficial in the education of children as they are central to child culture from a very early age through artefacts such as picture books which are a first encounter with visual literacy. As health professionals are not necessarily trained to produce visuals, and designers are not necessarily health experts, multidisciplinary collaboration is required. Within this team, the designer functions as visual literacy expert and the health professional as clinical knowledge expert, sharing domain-relevant skills and creativity-relevant skills. By merging knowledge bases a holistic approach to picture-based health communication can be achieved. This chapter discusses these factors within the framework of a qualitative case study in a women’s and children’s hospital in South Australia, focusing primarily on collaboration between the disciplines of graphic design and health. The chapter demonstrates that encouraging the designer to visit the health field enables visual materials to be customised to the teaching requirements of the health professional and the learning requirements of the audience. A ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to the design of visual education materials is avoided. Additionally, the importance of prototype testing with the target audience and the ways this testing can be used to optimise visual learning opportunities are explored.