Curiko
Transforming services for adults with disabilities
Context
There is a dark history of societies shunning, separating, and devaluing the lives of people with disabilities. Due to the advocacy of parents and people with disabilities, in the 1980s and 1990s, British Columbia joined the movement of deinstitutionalization— the process of replacing long-stay psychiatric hospitals or institutions with community-based support systems.
People were no longer being held within the walls of institutions. Disability service providers popped up across the province, creating a variety of programs that were excellent at keeping people with disabilities safe, filling their days, and ensuring support staff were available. And yet, institutional thinking prevailed. Institutions aren’t just buildings… they’re ways of being and reasoning that permeate our best intentions.
In 2016, three brave disability organizations recognized that there was more innovation needed in the disability service space, and they decided to team up and ask: What else might we try?
Challenge
Traditional supports for adults with disabilities keep people siloed— locked into routines and rhythms that fill their days but don’t necessarily make those days meaningful. Most people’s networks are composed of paid support staff, with relationships often feeling hierarchical and one-way.
Design Questions:
How might we transform models of disability care to create space for belonging for folks with disabilities?
How might we create more opportunities for reciprocity and job satisfaction for support workers?
How might we challenge stigma and bias rooted in ableism?
Outcome
Curiko is a systems-level service design intervention that reimagines inclusion, accessibility, and community participation. In doing so, we can see outcomes on three levels:
-
An accessible digital platform
End-to-end service journey
Coaching infrastructure
Toolkits
Participatory design methodologies
Governance or operational systems
Community experiences
-
Increased belonging
Improved confidence
Greater social inclusion
Reduced barriers
Enhanced support worker satisfaction
Expanded community participation
-
Scalable systems model
Innovative service architecture
New operational frameworks
Cross-sector accessibility innovation
Replicable design methods
Systems transformation
Approach
Curiko’s development was guided by a participatory, systems-oriented design strategy that addressed disability inclusion not as a singular product challenge, but as an interconnected social, service, and organizational transformation opportunity.
The project followed a multi-layered approach to build relevance, trust, and long-term scalability:
Embedded ethnographic and participatory research within disability communities, support networks, and organizational systems to deeply understand lived experiences, identify structural barriers, and surface unmet needs
Co-designed with people with disabilities, support workers, and institutional stakeholders to ensure solutions reflected real community priorities rather than top-down assumptions
Reframed disability support from transactional care models toward reciprocal, belonging-centred service experiences that emphasized autonomy, dignity, and connection
Developed an integrated service architecture connecting digital tools, coaching pathways, community participation, and organizational resources into one cohesive ecosystem
Core design principles included:
Designing with, not for
Accessibility as foundational infrastructure
Belonging as a measurable design outcome
Reciprocity over dependency
Systems transformation over isolated intervention
Strategic scalability without compromising human complexity
Full case study available upon request.
Roles: Lead Designer
Collaborators: Raphael Katz, Allison Chow, Janey Roh