One of the bed rocks of ethical practice is informed consent. This means that individuals who agree to participate in any element of the research are aware that they are agreeing to this and they are clear as to the purpose of the study and their role within it. It is therefore essential that as researchers we are aware of a person’s capacity to understand what is been asked of them and to find ways to represent and convey information about the study as clearly as possible.

Things to think about:

• How do you inform somebody about the project?
• How often do you share how you will engage with them? Do you need informed consent every time you meet the participant?
• What is the format of the consent form? What is the language? The layout? How does it look?
• How can we create something that can be iterative? (Not an A4 sheet)

We’ve included a set of cards that list the potential methods of enquiry and outcomes that might occur in a research project. Use these to have general conversations with participants selecting the ones that they consent to.

To capture more detail about a participant's level of consent we’ve included some consent postcards. These can be used at each research activity for participants to express their level of consent relating to photographs, videos, audio recordings and quotations.

For other examples of visual, interactive methods of gaining informed look at:

• Jet Gispen
  www.ethicsfordesigners.com
• Cara Broadley, Visual Questionnaire
  www.carabroadley.weebly.com

As you are facilitating the activities, it’s important that another team member is in charge of capturing the discussions and decisions. For the informedness of consent activities we have enclosed 3 worksheets to help in capturing an overview that can be referred to throughout your project: