Design thinking for social change. guadalupe de la mata

Howto use designthinkingfor
Social InnovationProjects

TheHumanCenteredDesignToolkit
Developedby IDEO
Guadalupe de la Mata
www.innovationforsocialchange.org

Do youwantto?
Bring innovation to the base of the pyramid?

Enter a new region?

Adapt a technology to your region?

Understand the needs of constituents better?

Find new methods for monitoring and evaluation?

2

HumanCenteredDesign

Human-Centered Through 3
Solutions include
Design (HCD) lenses:
• is a process and • Products, • Desirability
a set of • Services, • Feasibility
techniques • Environments, • Viability
used to create lenses.
• Organizations,
new solutions
for the world. • Modes of
interaction.

3

3 lenses
What do peopledesire?
The process begins by examining
the needs, dreams & behaviors
of the people we want to
affect with our solutions.
We seek to listen to and
Desirability
understand what they want.

Feasibility Viability

What is technically
What can be financially viable?
and organizationally feasible?
4

Theprocess

The process will move your
The process
team
• starts with a specific • from concrete
Design Challenge and observations about
• goes through three main people,
phases: • to abstract thinking as you
• Hear, uncover insights and
• Create, and themes,
• Deliver. • then back to the concrete
with tangible solutions.

5

Theprocess

concrete
concrete
observations
tangible
about
solutions.
people,

abstract
thinking as
you uncover
insights and
themes,
6

Phases

Hear

Deliver Create

7

Theprocess
• collect stories and inspiration from people.
• prepare for and conduct field research.
HEAR

• work together in a workshop format to translate what you heard from people
into frameworks, opportunities, solutions, and prototypes.
• move together from concrete to more abstract thinking in identifying themes and
CREATE opportunities, and then back to the concrete with solutions and prototypes.

• begin to realize your solutions through rapid revenue and cost
modeling, capability assessment, and implementation planning.
DELIVER • this will help you launch new solutions into the world.

8

Theprocess

9

Gettingready

Multidisciplinary
teams

Finite Dedicated
Timeframes Spaces

10

Multidisciplinary teams

You will have a higher likelihood
to solve complex problems by Different disciplinary and
intentionally assembling the educational backgrounds,
right team of people

you will have a better chance of
a core group of 3-8 coming up with unexpected
individuals, one of whom is the solutions when these people
facilitator approach problems from
different points of view.

11

Dedicated Spaces

Having a separate
project space
allows the team:

to be constantly
able to track the
inspired by immersed in their
progress of the
imagery from the post-it notes, and
project.
field,

12

FiniteTimeframes

Finite Timeframes

Likewise, an innovation
Many people notice that project with a beginning,
they work best with middle, and end is more
deadlines and concrete likely to keep the team
timelines. motivated and focused on
moving forward.

13

4 potentialscenarios

Scenario 4:
Scenario 3:
Scenario 1: the Scenario 2: the Complementing
Activating
week-long Deep several-month existing
already-existing
Dive Deep Dive long-term
knowledge
Activities

Scenario 1: theweek-longDeepDive

This format is good for early-
One week timeline phase learning and for spurring
new thinking. use when you:
• forces the design team to work • » Need to learn about a new
quickly to gather and analyze area or challenge quickly.
data, then moves rapidly to • » Need to kick-start thinking
solutions, prototypes and about a long-standing
plans. intractable problem.
• long enough to gain good • » Want to refresh the thinking
understanding, yet short of the staff.
enough to allow to put limited
resources against a challenge.

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Scenario 2: the several-month Deep Dive

A longer time frame, Use when you: Pull out and use:

• enables a deeper, more • » Need to design robust • » All sections of the
nuanced understanding and solutions because the funds Toolkit, allowing the nature
theorization of a complex for implementation are of the Challenge to dictate
challenge or problem. available. the appropriate timeframes
• more locations can be • » Have the resources to for each Phase.
examined and allocate on thinking through
• more stakeholders in the a multi-faceted challenge.
value chain can become • » Need to engage many
participants in the process. actors in the process, such
as partners, value chain
stakeholders, funders, etc.

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Scenario 3: Activatingalready-
existingknowledge
Often organizations have a great deal of research and already-existing information
but are unable to translate all that information into actionable solutions.
In this case, the processes outlined in Create and Deliver can help your team transform
what you know into things you can start doing.

Use when you: Pull out and use:

• » Have a lot of data and you don’t • » Create
quite know what to do with it. • » Deliver
• » Have been hearing interesting
stories from the field staff and want to
see if those stories can yield new
opportunities or solutions.
• » Have a robust research methodology
that you like better than the one in
this toolkit.

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Scenario 4: Complementingexisting
long-termActivities
Use when you: Pull out and use:

• » Want a new technique to • » Any pieces of your
add to your work routines. choosing.
• » See a method in this toolkit
that you find applicable to
the daily challenges you face.
• » Can’t set aside the
resources for an HCD project,
but want to infuse the spirit
of Human-Centered Design
in your everyday work.

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HEAR Phase: Goals& Outputs &How

Goal Outputs HOW?

• Designing • » Peoples’ stories • We use
meaningful and • » Observations of methodologies
innovative Constituents’ and tips for
solutions that reality engaging people
serve your • » Deeper in their own
constituents understanding of contexts in order
begins with needs, barriers, & to understand the
understanding constraints issues at a deep
their needs, hopes level.
and aspirations
for the future

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HEAR PHASE: 6 steps
1. Identify the
design
challenge

2. Identify
6. Develop
existing
your mindset
knowledge

5. Design an 3. Identify
inteview people to talk
approach to

4. Choose
research
method

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CREATE PHASE
To move from research to real-world solutions

• you will go through a process of synthesis and interpretation.
• narrowing and culling information and
• translating insights about the reality of today into a set of opportunities
for the future.
• the concrete needs of individuals are transformed into high-level
insights about the larger population and system frameworks that the
team creates.
• the team will shift into a generative mindset to brainstorm hundreds of
solutions and rapidly make a few of them tangible through prototyping.
• During this phase, solutions are created with only the customer
Desirability filter in mind.

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CreatePhase: Goals
Creating solutions

Making sense of data

Identifying patterns

Defining opportunities

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Createphase: 4 keyactivities

Synthesis

Brainstorming

Prototyping

Feedback

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Createphase: 7 STEPS
STEP 1:
develop the
approach

STEP 7: Gather STEP 2: share
feedback stories

STEP 3:
STEP 6: Make
Identify
ideas real
patterns

STEP 5: STEP 4: Create
Brainstorm opportunity
new solutions areas

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DELIVER

Hear

Deliver Create

DELIVER PHASE

• Once the design team has created many desirable
solutions, it is time to consider how to make
these feasible and viable.
• The Deliver phase will move your top ideas
toward implementation.
• The activities offered here are meant to
complement your organization’s existing
implementation processes and may prompt
adaptations to the way solutions are
typicallyrolledout.
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DeliverPhase

Your team will:

Identify Create a model DEVELOP an
Plan pilots &
required for financial innovation
measure Impact
capabilities sustainability pipeline

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DeliverPhase

OBJECTIVE:

build the capabilities and
financial models that will
create a plan for on-going
ensure that the solutions are
learning and iteration.
implemented well and can be
sustained over the long term.
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DeliverPhase: 6 steps
1: Sustainable
revenue model

2: Identify
6: Create a
Capabilities
learning Plan
required

5: Plan mini-
3: Pipeline of
pilots &
solutions
iteration

4: Create an
implementation
timeline

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The 3 phases in practice

Hear

Deliver Create

The HEAR PHASE

Hear

Deliver Create

HEAR
• Designing meaningful and innovative solutions that
serve your constituents begins with understanding
their needs, hopes and aspirations for the future.
• Methodologies and tips for:
– engaging people in their own contexts in order
– to understand the issues at a deep level.
• Hear GOALS
– » Whototalkto
– » How to gain empathy
– » How to cap ture stories

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Output of the HEAR PHASE

Outputs of the Hear
Phase are

Deeper
Observations of understanding of
Peoples’ stories
Constituents’ reality needs, barriers, &
constraints

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Qualitativemethods
• Whatmethods do?
– Qualitative methods can uncover deeply held
needs, desires, and aspirations.
– It is particularly useful in early-stage research to
test assumptions about the world, and when we
cannot assume that the researchers already know
the entire universe of possible
answers, beliefs, and ideas of the participants.
– Qualitativemethods can helpunveilpeople’s
social, political, economic, and cultural
opportunities and barriers in their own words.
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HEAR PHASE
STEP 1:
Identify a
Design
Challenge

STEP 6. STEP 2:
Develop Recognise
your the existing
mindset knowledge

STEP 5. STEP 3.
Develop an Identify
interview people to
approach speak to

STEP 4.
Select
research
method

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STEP 1: Identify a DESIGN CHALLENGE

• The foundation of HCD is a concise Design
Challenge.
• This challenge will guide the questions you will
ask in the field research and the opportunities
and solutions you will develop later in the
process.
• A Design Challenge is phrased in a human-
centered way with a sense of possibility. For
example: “Create savings and investment
products that are appropriate for people living in
rural areas.”

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STEP 2. Recognise the existing knowledge

• Conducting a “What Do We Know?” session helps call
forth existing knowledge related to the Design
Challenge.
• Once documented, you can freely focus on discovering
what you don’t yet know.

37

STEP 3. Identify people to speak to

• Recruiting appropriate and inspirational
participants is critical. Attention to gender,
ethnicity, and class balance is crucial for
research.
• For research meant to inspire new
opportunities, it is useful to find people who
represent “extremes.”
• Including this full range will be important in
the later phases, especially in constructing
good frameworks and providing inspiration
for brainstorming.
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STEP 4. Select research method

• Design research is useful to not only understand individuals
but also frame individual behaviors in the context and
community that surrounds them.
• Therefore, it will be important to employ many methods of
research.
• Five methods described here are:
• » Individual Interview
• » Group Interview
• » In Context Immersion
• » Self-Documentation
• » Community-Driven Discovery
• » Expert Interviews
• » Seeking Inspiration
• in New Places

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STEP 5: Interviewing is an art that balances the
dual needs of:
• getting relevant information from the customer and
• engaging with them as a curious and empathetic
friend.
• Intentionally developing your strategy for interviewing
is key to managing this balance.
• 3 interview methods:
Sacrificial
Concepts
Interview Interview
Guide Techniques

Three
interview
methods

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6. Develop your mindset

• It is often difficult, but very important, for
experts and professionals to put aside
what they know when they conduct
research.
• Keeping an open mind takes practice. The
three exercises here can provide you with
this practice before you go into the field:
• » Beginner’s Mind
• » Observe vs. Interpret
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CREATE PHASE

Hear

Deliver Create

CREATE GOALS
• To move from research to real-world solutions, you will go through
a process of synthesis and interpretation.
• This requires a mode of narrowing and culling information and
translating insights about the reality of today into a set of
opportunities for the future.
• This is the most abstract part of the process, when the concrete
needs of individuals are transformed into high-level insights about
the larger population and system frameworks that the team
creates.
• With defined opportunities, the team will shift into a
generativemindsettobrainstormhundreds of solutionsand rapidly
make a few of them tangible through prototyping. During this
phase, solutions are created with only the customer Desirability
filter in mind.

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CREAT PHASE: GOALS

Goals of the
Create Phase:

Making sense Identifying Defining Creating
of data patterns opportunities solutions

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CREATE OUTPUTS

At the end of
the Create • Opportunities
phase, the • Solutions
team will have • Prototypes
generated :

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CREATE PHASE: Activities

synthesis brainstorming prototyping feedback

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SYNTHESIS

is about making sense takes us from enables us to establish
of what we’ve seen inspiration to a new perspective and
and heard during the ideas, from stories to identify opportunities
observations. strategic directions. for innovation.

(By
aggregating, editing
and condensing what
we’ve learned)
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BRAINSTORMING

It may require generating
Generate truly
Makes us think 100 ideas (many of which
impractical solutions to
expansively and without are mediocre) in order to
spark ideas that are
constraints. come up with three truly
relevant and reasonable.
inspirational solutions.

48

PROTOTYPING

Proven technique for
Methodology for making quickly learning how to
solutions tangible in a rapid design an offering right and
and low-investment way. for accelerating the process
of rolling out solutions

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FEEDBACK

inspires further
It brings the
Create different iterations to make
constituents directly
prototypes of your solutions more
back into the design
product: compelling for
process.
constituents.

prevents the team
enables people to give from getting attached
honest feedback to an idea
prematurely.

50

CREATE PHASE: THE STEPS
1. DEVELOP THE
APPROACH

7: SOLLICIT 2. SHARE
FEEDBACK STORIES

6. MAKE IDEAS 3.IDENTIFY
REAL PATTERNS

4. CREATE
5: BRAINSTORM
OPPORTUNITY
NEW SOLUTIONS
AREAS

51

STEP 1. DEVELOP THE APPROACH
• Creation is about developing deeper
understanding and translating that
understanding into new innovations.
• There are many ways to do this, but the two
most common are:
– participatory approaches and
– empathic approaches.

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A. Method: Participatory Co-Design

Having the team co-design solutions with people
from the community and local value chain actors to:
• leverage local knowledge.
• lead to innovations that may be better adapted to the context
and be more likely to be adopted, since local people have
invested resources in their creation.

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A. Method: Participatory Co-Design

Consider using participatory co-design when:

• » you need a lot of local expertise and knowledge
• » solutions from the “outside” will not be easily adopted
• » the politics of a community require it

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B. Method: EmpathicDesign
Creating solutions through empathy is a way for the design team to blend their
expertise with the on-the-ground needs of people.

Consider using empathic design
Empathic design:
when:
• means deep understanding of the • » the design team has specific
realities of the people you are skills required to develop solutions
designing for • » the solutions you are seeking are
• Means not just to understand the “new to the world”
problem mentally, but also to start • » community politics make it
creating solutions from a difficult to select a few individuals
connection to deep thoughts and to work with
feelings
• can lead to both appropriate and
more breakthrough solutions.

55

STEP 2: SHARE STORIES

As a group
One team while the rest It’s best to you should be
member of the team share stories thinking:
should tell the takes notes on soon after “What does
story of the post-its (no research so this new
person(s) they longer than a that details information
met, sentence) are not lost. mean for the
project?”

56

Some tips on storytelling

Be specific Be descriptive Follow reporting
rules

• Talk about • Use your • Cover the
what actually physical following
happened. It senses to give topics: who,
helps to begin texture to what, when,
stories with your where, why,
“One time…” description. and how.
or “After such
and such
happened…”

57

STEP 2: SHARE STORIES (II)
Story sharing

turns the information that lives
in a team member’s head into

shared knowledge that

can be translated into
opportunities and solutions.

58

STEP 2: SHARE STORIES (III)
Some techniques for effective sharing include:

• » Gather your notes, photos, and artifacts prior to
story sharing. If possible, print the photos and
display them on the wall to refer to.
• » Tell stories person by person, one at a time.
Group meetings can be told as the story of a
particular community.
• » Split information into small pieces
• » Use vivid details and descriptions.
59

STEP 3: IDENTIFY PATTERNS

Making sense of your research is accomplished by

larger relationships between
seeing the patterns, themes, and
the information.

Seeing the patterns and connections between the data will lead you quickly toward real-world solutions.

There are several steps listed here to take you through the process for you use selectively based on the subject
matter.

» Extract Key Insights » Find Themes » Create Frameworks

60

STEP 4: CREATE OPPORTUNITY AREAS
What i s an opportunity Framing Opportunity
When?
Area? Areas
• Once you have pulled • a stepping stone to • Opportunities start with
out the themes and idea generation. the phrase “HOW
patterns from what you • a rearticulation of MIGHT WE...?” to
heard, you can start problems or needs in a suggest a mindset of
creating opportunity generative, future possibility.
areas. facing way.
• The process of • is not a solution. Rather,
translating insights into it suggests more than
opportunities is about one solution. It allows
moving from the the team to create
current state to many solutions.
envisioning future
possibilities.
• Opportunities are the
springboard for ideas
and solutions.

61

STEP 5: BRAINSTORM
NEW SOLUTIONS

Brainstorming

• gives permission to think expansively and without any
organizational, operational, or technological constraints.
• conducting a fruitful brainstorm involves a lot of discipline and
a bit of preparation.
• the practice of generating truly impractical solutions often
sparks ideas that are relevant and reasonable.
• It may require generating 100 ideas (many of which are silly or
impossible) in order to come up with those three truly
inspirational solutions.

62

7 B r a i n s to r m i n g R u l e s

Defer judgment Encourage wild ideas: Build on the ideas of
• It’s the wild ideas that often others:
There are no bad ideas create real innovation. It is • Think in terms of ‘and’
at this point. You can always easy to bring ideas instead of ‘but.’
judge ideas later. down to earth later!

Stay focused on topic: Be visual: one conversation at a
• You will get better output if • Try to engage the logical and time:
everyone is disciplined. the creative sides of the • Allow ideas to be heard and
brain. built upon.

Go for quantity:
• Set a big goal for a nº of
ideas & surpass it! They
should flow quickly.

63

Brainstorming warm-up. Exercise
• Use this activity to get the team in an open-minded and energetic mindset for
brainstorming.
• Pair up with a partner. Person A will come up with lots of ideas about a potential
business he or she wants to start. (Alternatively, one could plan an event such as a
family vacation and pose ideas of places to go.)
Round 1:
• Person A comes up with one idea after another. Person B must say NO to each
idea and give a reason why it wouldn’t work. Do this for 2-3 minutes.

Round 2:
• Now Person B comes up with business or event ideas, one after another. Person A
must say YES to each idea and build on it to make it bigger. Do this for 2-3
minutes.
• As a group, discuss how these two different experiences felt. The Round 2
experience is the environment the team will want to create for a successful
brainstorm.
64

STEP 6. Make Ideas Real

What is Prototyping? Why prototyping?

• is about building to • Prototyping allows you
think. to quickly and cheaply
• This means creating make ideas tangible so
the solution so that it they can be tested and
can be communicated evaluated by others -
to others and making before you’ve had time
the idea better. to fall in love with
them.

65

STEP 6. Make Ideas Real (II)

Why prototype?

To develop a deeper
understanding of what
To create an internal
an idea means and to
dialogue about how
reveal questions the
team needs to answer.

66

WHAT ARE PROTOTYPES?

BUILD TO THINK ROUGH, RAPID, RIGHT ANSWERING QUESTIONS

• Prototypes are • Prototypes are not • It is essential to know
disposable tools used precious. They what question a
throughout the should be built as prototype is being
concept quickly and cheaply used to answer, for
development as possible. example about
process, both to desirability, usefulnes
validate ideas and to s, usability, viability, o
help generate more r feasibility.
ideas.
• Prototypes are a
powerful form of
communication and
force us to think in
realistic terms about
how someone would
interact with the
concept.

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TIP: Imagine theValueProposition

For each prototype, answer these questions to start
building the value of the idea:
• » Who will benefit from this idea? What is the value
to the end customers?
• » Why and how is this idea better than alternative
options?
• » How much is this benefit worth to them?
• » How much would they be willing to pay for this
benefit”
• » How might this payment be collected?

68

STEP 7: SOLICITE FEEDBACK

After solutions have been
generated…

…it’s time to take them
back out to participants
to gather feedback.
69

STEP 7: SOLICITE FEEDBACK

How to solicit feedback? Whose feedback to solicit?

• A great way to get honest feedback • Speaking to new participants in a
is to take several executions out to different region from where you did
people. your research is a way to explore the
• When there is only one concept generalizability of a solution.
available, people may be reluctant to • You may choose to speak to a mix of
criticize. However, when allowed to both new people and to those you
compare and contrast, people tend have spoken with before.
to speak more honestly. • Try to include all stakeholders who
would touch the concept; in addition
to the end user, include
manufacturers, installers, service
providers, distributors, retailers, etc.

70

SolicitingFeedback

What questions to pursue?

Keep careful notes of the
For each prototype, identify feedback
3-4 questions about
&
desirability
new questions for the team.
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DELIVERY PHASE

Hear

Deliver Create

DELIVERY PHASE
When? Why? How?

• Once the design • The Deliver phase • The activities
team has created will move your top offered here are
many desirable ideas toward meant to
solutions, it is implementation. complement your
time to consider organization’s
how to make existing
these feasible and implementation
viable. processes and
may prompt
adaptations to the
way solutions are
typically rolled
out.

73

DELIVERY PHASE

will ensure that the
solutions are
implemented well and
build the capabilities
and financial models
that
Delivering solutions
can be sustained over
means you will need
the long term.
to :
to create a plan for
on-going learning and
iteration.

74

DELIVERY PHASE

Delivering solutions that are new to the world
involves creating low-investment, low-cost
ways of trying out your ideas in a real-world
context.

75

DELIVERY PHASE
The team can design a handful
of minipilots that precede and
inform the full pilot program
Minipilot
Minipilot 1
2
Mini-pilots might engage
actors who are different
Minipilot
from the group of stakeholders
3
for the final implementation.

Pilot Programme
76

DELIVERY PHASE

iterative process

Implementation is an
will likely require many
prototypes, mini-pilots and
pilots to perfect the solution
and support system.

77

DELIVERY PHASE

Piloting an idea before it
goes to market:

helps you identify what it
allows you to understand will take for your
the solution better organization to deliver that
idea to the community

78

DELIVERY PHASE

• Every organization is optimized to achieve what it
currently does.
• If you want to achieve different outcomes, you
often need to do things differently than you know
and do right now—whether it is about finding
new talent, developing new skills, building new
external partnerships, orcreating new processes.
• TheHuman-CenteredDesignprocessdoesn’t limit
the solution by the current constraints of
theorganization.
79

DELIVERY PHASE
The process Integrates design
The process invites you to and measurement methods
work in the belief that: in a continuous learning
cycle.
• new things are • By encouraging on-going
possible, and that measurement, evaluation,
• you can evolve both the and iteration, the solutions
solutions that you deliver developed stay grounded in
and the way your real-world impact and
organization is continue to evolve.
designed, simultaneously

80

DELIVERY PHASE: STEPS
1. DEVELOP A
SUSTAINABLE
REVENUE MODEL

2. IDENTIFY
CAPABILITIES
6. CREATE A
REQUIRED FOR
LEARNING PLAN
DEVIVERING
SOLUTIONS

3. PLAN A
5. PLAN MINI-PILOTS
“SOLUTION´S
& ITERATIONS
PIPELINE”

4. CREATE A TIMELINE

81

STEP 1. Develop a sustainable
revenue model

• The long-term success of solutions depends
upon the intentional design of a revenue
stream that can sustain the offering over time.
• Let the value provided to the end customer be
your entry point as you design the support
systems around the solution.

82

For this Viability Assessment, answer the
following questions for each solution
1. Customer Value 3. Stakeholder
2. Revenue sources
Proposition incentives
• » What is the value • » Is the solution a • » How does this
proposition for the product, a service or solution deliver value
end customer? Refer both? to each stakeholder
back to prototypes • » How much do involved?
and customer customers pay? • » What are the
feedback, • » How do customers stakeholders’
highlighting the pay: in cash, in kind, incentives to
aspects customers in labor, in other? participate?
found most • What are challenges
important. or disincentives?
• » How much is this How might we adapt
worth to the end the solution to avoid
customer? these disincentives?
83

STEP 2. Identify Capabilities required for
Delivering solutions
The capabilities of your organization and partners will help inform the feasibility of
solutions.

think identify

• about the experience of • the range of capabilities
the end customer where required for making this
and how the community real.
members or end-user • many possible models
will purchase or for delivery that leverage
experience this solution. different partners and
channels.

84

To identify the capabilities required to make each
solution feasible, answer the following questions for
each solution

1. Distribution 2. Capabilities required 3. Potential Partners

• » Where, when, how, and why • » What • What organizations or
might the customer experience human, manufacturing, financial, individuals have capabilities that
this solution? and technological capabilities we do not? What is our
• » Which actors and channels will are required for creating and relationship with them
touch the solution? delivering this solution? currently?
• » What other channels could be • » Which of these capabilities do • How might we reach out to them
used to reach customers? we have in our country location? and show the value of engaging
• » What is the range of possible Which do we have in our with our organization on this
ways this solution could be international location? And solution
delivered? which capabilities will need to be
found in partners?
• » Would we need to grow any
capabilities on this list?

85

STEP 3. Plan a Pipeline of solutions
To understand how new solutions will move and grow your organization map each
solution in a MATRIX.

Ask Determine Analyze identify

• whether each • whether the • this information • which solutions
solution is solutions extend from the context fit naturally into
targeted at your or adapt an of your programs
current customer existing offer, or investment already
group or create a new strategy, mission, underway within
whether it offer. priorities and your
expands the appetite for risk. organization.
group of
customers you
serve.

86

STEP 4. Create an implementation timeline

Map solutions to a
Look at relationships
timeline of Take into account
of solution
implementation,
• with those in the • to see whether • which solutions can
Incremental initiating one be explored within
innovation solution will build the scope of
category early in the relationships currently funded
the timeline and and partners programs and
Revolutionary needed for another which solutions
innovations further solution. suggest the
out. proposal of new
grants.

87

STEP 4. Create an implementation
timeline: tips (II)
Assign an individual Divide each solution Challenge the team

• within your • into a series of steps • to do something
organization as a that build toward toward
champion for each implementing the implementing each
solution to help final solution. solution in the next
maintain momentum two weeks. For some
and increase the solutions, a pilot can
likelihood of be launched in two
implementation. weeks. For
others, two weeks
might be the amount
of time required for
further study or for
the first steps to
connecting with
partners.
88

STEP 5. Plan mini-Pilots&iteration
• For each solution in your pipeline,
– it is important to identify simple, low-investment next
steps to keep the ideas alive.
– One way to keep iterating and learning is to plan mini-
pilotsbeforelarge-scalepilotsor full-
scaleimplementation.
• For each mini-pilot, ask three questions:
– » What resources will I need to test out this idea?
– » What key questions does this mini-pilot need to
answer?
– » How will we measure the success of this mini-pilot?

89

STEP 6. Create a Learning Plan
• Throughout the design and implementation of new solutions, it is
important to keep learning.
1. DESIGN PROCESS:
– you collected stories that helped develop the understanding to get you to
new ideas.
2. FIRST PROTOTYPES:
– you gathered feedback to make those ideas better.
3. IMPLEMENTATION:
– the team should continue to collect stories and gather feedback from users.
– Stories collected from people in the Hear phase will help the team create a
baseline to track how solutions are affecting individuals’ lives.
– Collecting on-going feedback will help the team iterate on the ideas in order
to make them more effective, more appropriate, and more cost-effective.
– In addition to stories and feedback, begin to track indicators and outcomes.
This is possible after the solutions are implemented and are important to
measuring the impact as well as the return on investment of solutions.

90

Thelearningloop
Stories, feedback, indicators, and outcomes are all ways of gathering empirical data in
order to learn. A project in India for clean water storage and transportation utilized all of
these methods to measure the impact potential and outcomes of solutions.

Stories

•AssessNeeds
• UnderstandContext
• DevelopBaseline • Evaluate Ideas
• AssessImpact • GainInspiration • PrioritizeSolutions
• Evaluate ROI Outcomes Feedback • Iterate Ideas
• Create New Baselines • DevelopImplementation
• IdentifyNextChallenges Plan

• TrackProgress
Indicators • Choose Ideas
• IterateSolutions
• IdentifyUnintended
Guadalupe de la Mata Consequences
91

STEP 6. Method: TrackIndicators

Indicators help you measure the effects of
your solutions

The effects can be
positive or negative, intended or unintended.
92

TYPES OF INDICATORS
Leading Analogous Awareness

• The impact of solutions can • Sometimes it is difficult to • When the goal involves
often take some time to see direct impacts. This is people engaging or
become evident, such as especially true when your adopting something
months or years. In these design challenge is about new, the first step is to
cases, it makes sense to trust or prevention. know whether they are
track leading indicators. • In these cases, try to find an aware of the solution or
• For example, if your goal is indicator that would design.
to increase farmer income, logically lead you to • Measuring awareness is a
a leading indicator would be conclude whether your goal good early indicator to help
the number of farmers is being met. For understand how big the
growing high-value crops example, on a project to impact of the solution may
this season. increase trust of healthcare be.
providers, the team tracked
the number of questions
people asked doctors and
nurses. Since trust is hard to
measure, the team decided
to use the posing of
questions as an analogous
indicator of trust.

93

TYPES OF INDICATORS
Engagement Dynamic Changes

• Like awareness, measuring the • When a new solution is
number of people who are introduced, it is important to track
engaged in a new program is often the changes over time that occur
very meaningful. within the community, within
• For example, if the goal is to households, and to the
increase women’s incomes environment.
through a program to export local • These shifts can be completely
art, the number of women actively unexpected, and are sometimes
seeking out and participating in positive and sometimes negative.
the program is a meaningful Its crucial to look out for these
indication of how much impact the changes and unintended
program may have on local consequences early on in
incomes. implementation.

94

6. Method: EvaluateOutcomes
• Measuring outcomes is critical to the learning cycle.
• Without a good assessment of the impact a solution
has made, there is often not enough information about
the direction or goals for the next round of designs.
• Assessing outcomes is important for everyone – the
implementer, the funder, the design team, and the
community.
• Outcome measurement helps people understand
where to best invest their resources. It is an
opportunity to assess and plan forthefuture.

95

HOLISTIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT
To assess the impact of a solution, program, or intervention, it is important to take
a systemic and holistic view. Try the following exercise.
Track the effects of a Iterate on the Examine the solution’s
MAP the stakeholders
solution solutions net value.
• Create a complete • to find ways to • Use this exercise as a
list with many actors • write them on the increase the positive way to continue
that your solution list or map. effects and lessen learning and
might touch – in • Color code the actors negative effects. challenge the team
positive, negative, or that receive benefits to improve on
neutral ways. from the solution solutions in order to
• A mind map format and those that make the outcomes
• Include stakeholders experience negative more and more
that your team may effects. If possible, positive.
not be focused on, quantify the value of
such as: funders, the effects with a
people in the same standardized
community or measurement
adjacent system.
communities who
are not receiving
direct benefits,

96

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