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Recruiting Tools
Recruiting Tools
Recruiting the right participants is important to the success of your project. Identify questions to ask to help you find a broad range of participants. Work to find people who represent a balance of gender, ethnicity and class as well as a full range of behaviors, beliefs and perspectives. Keep track of the people you have spoken with and those you plan to speak with. It is helpful to record information about the types of participants and the characteristics of groups and locations. Time: 30-60 Minutes Difficulty: Moderate Materials: Pen Notepad Participants: interviewers interviewees The HCD Toolkit and all HCD methods are licensed under: Instructions for this Method www.hcdconnect.org/methods/recruiting-tools/print.html
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Recruiting Tools
1. Refer to Extremes & Mainstreams to help you develop the spectrum along which to recruit, identify locations for interviews and to recruit community contacts and participants. 2. Following your interviews, ask participants for help identifying others to interview. Use questions that help you find participants along the entire spectrum of your research. 3. Keep track of those you spoke with and plan to speak with by recording information for each group or individual interview. See Practical Pointers below for an example template. You’ll want to record: Group meeting location, village name, and any unique characteristics of the site (such as seasonal flooding). Also, Individual participant name, participant type (such as successful villager, person struggling to survive, large family with relatives in the city, female headed household). Tips
Some communities may be resistant to male team members interviewing women. Make sure female staff help recruit and interview women. When interviewing women, interviewers may need permission from male family members or community leaders. Group sessions are a great way to identify participants for the individual interviews. However, communities may want to showcase only the most successful constituents or male community members to your team. Research with communities and individuals often involves issues of identity, power, and politics. To help think through these issues, use the Identity, Power & Politics Worksheet
www.hcdconnect.org/methods/recruiting-tools/print.html
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Community-Driven Discovery
Community-Driven Discovery
Consider recruiting members of the community to be the primary researchers, translators, designers or key informants for your project. By asking respected community members to lead the research, your team will gain expertise, insight and perspective. The involvement of community members with strong relationships or a reputation for intelligence and fairness may help other participants to express their concerns openly and honestly. These research partners can also help interpret the meaning and motivations behind the statements of other participants. Time: 2-4 Days Difficulty: Difficult Materials: Pen Notepad Participants: Design team Community members The HCD Toolkit and all HCD methods are licensed under:
www.hcdconnect.org/methods/community-driven-discovery/print.html
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Community-Driven Discovery
Instructions for this Method 1. Before starting a project using Community-Driven Discovery, work to understand the relevant dynamics and power relationships of participants. Community politics can sometimes transform your research project into a community battle for access to the resources of you and your team. Even the incorrect perception of favoritism can be damaging to your project. 2. Identify a few people in the community who will be good members to have on the design team. Try to ensure that these individuals are trusted, respected members of the community, that they are fair and unbiased, and have no personal stake in the results of the design solutions. 3. Decide how you will compensate these individuals. Sometimes it will be appropriate to pay them a salary based on what other members of the design team are getting paid, while in other situations, non-monetary gifts are more appropriate. If you are uncertain, seek advice. 4. Integrate these community design team members at every point in the project, valuing their knowledge of the community dynamics and needs. Tips
When identifying participants, it may be helpful to include people in the community who are particularly innovative or who have been doing things out of the ordinary in order to achieve success. Consider how might you partner with these individuals to inspire new solutions. Learn by leveraging their innovations and knowledge. Check out the following tools for assistance designing your interview: Identity, Power & Politics Worksheet
www.hcdconnect.org/methods/community-driven-discovery/print.html
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Expert Interviews
Expert Interviews
If you need lots of in-depth or technical information in a short period of time, consider engaging an expert to supplement your primary research. Others may have already done research relevant to your project. Experts can help you to learn about the history and context of a particular community or topic, understand the regulations that might affect design and implementation of solutions, or provide you with information about new or developing technologies. Time: 1.5-3 Hours Difficulty: Easy Materials: Pen Camera Notepad Participants: Interviewers Interviewees The HCD Toolkit and all HCD methods are licensed under:
www.hcdconnect.org/methods/expert-interviews/print.html
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Expert Interviews
Instructions for this Method 1. Decide if an Expert Interview is the best way to get the information you need and identify the areas or topics that you would like to talk to experts about. 2. Find and recruit experts. Tell them about your project and the intended length of time you will speak with them. Try to speak with people who have different opinions on the topics to challenge the team to think in new ways. 3. Return to some of these experts during the Feedback portion of the project. Experts can be particularly helpful when there is something tangible for them to respond to. Tips
Expert interviews are not a substitute for primary research with participants and communities. Experts can overstate their expertise or develop their own assumptions and biases that can stifle innovation. If possible, interview experts with different points of view on a topic in order to balance out biases. Remember that the real experts are the people you’re designing for. Don’t ask experts for solutions or take their ideas as the final solution. Check out the following tools for assistance designing your interview: Identity, Power & Politics Worksheet
www.hcdconnect.org/methods/expert-interviews/print.html
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Extremes and Mainstreams
Extremes and Mainstreams
When recruiting participants, try to include opposite “extremes” and the “mainstream” in between, in order to hear a full range of behaviors, beliefs and perspectives. A good balance includes equal numbers of three types of participants. One-third of participants might be the extreme who are successful, adopt new technologies quickly and exhibit desirable behaviors. One third may be the opposite extreme, those who are very poor, resistant to new technologies or exhibit problematic behaviors. The final third represents the mainstream in the middle. Time: 30-60 Minutes Difficulty: Moderate Materials: Pen Notepad Participants: Design team The HCD Toolkit and all HCD methods are licensed under: www.hcdconnect.org/methods/extremes-mainstreams/print.html
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Extremes and Mainstreams
Instructions for this Method 1. Determine the spectrum (or range) of participants you’ll recruit. Decide on several options (i.e. high income to low income, early adopter to risk averse, large landholder to landless). Narrow your options to one or two relevant spectrums to make sure “extremes” are covered in your research. 2. Identify locations to recruit participants. You may be able to ask stakeholders to list good areas for this research. Choose 2-5 varied field sites (i.e. a dry and a wet site or a site in a central district and one that is remote). 3. Select appropriate community contacts to help arrange community meetings and individual interviews. Make sure community contacts include men and women. 4. Throughout your interviews, ask participants for help identifying others you can speak with. Tips
Extreme participants help to unearth unarticulated behaviors and needs of the rest of the population, but are easier to observe and identify because they feel the effects more powerfully than others. As you work to identify a range of participants, consider the types of questions you might ask. If you are looking for participants along the economic spectrum you might ask: “Can you introduce me to a family who cannot afford to send their children to school or to a family who has been able to send all of their children to school?” “Can you introduce me to a family who has not been able to afford maintenance or repairs to their home?” “Can you introduce me to a family who has experienced a recent setback (medical problems, bad harvest, etc.) or to a family who has overcome a recent setback?”
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Phrase the Challenge
Phrase the Challenge
You can use this method to identify criteria, establish a point of view and write an appropriate Design Challenge. Your challenge will guide the questions you ask in the field and the solutions you develop later in the process. A good challenge is framed in human terms (rather than technology, product, or service functionality), with a sense of possibility. It is both broad enough to allow you to discover areas of unexpected value and narrow enough to make the topic manageable. Time: 1-5 Hours Difficulty: Difficult Materials: Pen Notepad Participants: Design team Community leadership The HCD Toolkit and all HCD methods are licensed under:
www.hcdconnect.org/methods/phrase-the-challenge/print.html
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Phrase the Challenge
Instructions for this Method 1. Your design team will work with leadership and/or the people you are designing for, to identify a list of criteria for the challenge. Criteria might answer these questions: Does it need to fit into a certain timeframe? Does it need to have a geographical or topical focus? Does it need to fit into an existing initiative? Does it need to explore new opportunities? 2. Keeping these criteria in mind, make a list of the challenges people are facing. 3. Re-frame those challenges in a broader context and from the point of view of those you are designing for. 4. Choose the top two or three challenges based on your criteria. Work together to narrow the list to one specific challenge. 5. Write a succinct, one-sentence Design Challenge to guide the design team. Make sure to phrase the challenge in human terms with a sense of possibility. It is helpful to start the Design Challenge with an action verb such as “Create”, “Define”, “Adapt”, etc. Or phrase the challenge as a question starting with: “How can...?” Tips
Example of a well-phrased design challenge: “Create savings and investment products that are appropriate for people living in rural areas.” The challenge you choose may be related to adoption of new technologies, behaviors, medicines, products, or services. This might lead to framing a design challenge that is organization-focused, such as “How can we get people in villages to adopt savings accounts?” Instead, work to re-frame the challenge in a more human-centered way, such as “How can we create a financial safety net for people in villages?”
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Storytelling With Purpose
Storytelling With Purpose
When you tell a story, you transform what you heard during research into data and information that your team can use to imagine opportunities and solutions. One team member’s specific, descriptive and timely story can become shared knowledge and provide inspiration to the whole team. Because stories are accounts of real people, real situations and specific events (not general statements or summaries) they provide concrete details that help you address particular problems. Time: 4 Hours - Days Difficulty: Easy Materials: Post-it notes Markers Large paper or flip pads Tape Participants: design team The HCD Toolkit and all HCD methods are licensed under:
www.hcdconnect.org/methods/storytelling-with-purpose/print.html
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Storytelling With Purpose
Instructions for this Method 1. Gather the design team together in a room with plenty of wall space. Optimally, the team should be sitting in a circle. Distribute post-it notes and markers. Have a flip pad or large sheets of paper nearby, as well as tape to attach these sheets to the wall. 2. One team member begins by sharing the story of the person(s) they met. The storyteller tries to be both specific (talking about what actually happened) and descriptive (using physical senses to give texture to the description). They should report on who, what, when, where, why, and how. Proceed to have team member tell their stories person by person, one at a time. 3. While one storyteller speaks the rest of the team captures notes, observations, and thoughts on the post-its. Try to capture everything that is said during story sharing in a note: life history, household details, income, aspirations, barriers, quotes, and observations. Notes should be small pieces of information (no longer than a sentence) that will be easy to remember later. 4. Stick all the post-it notes to the flip pads or large pieces of paper on the wall. Use one large sheet per story. When the story is finished, hang it on the wall and move on to the next story. At the end of story sharing, you will have many sheets lined up on the wall with hundreds of post-it notes. Consider this shared information as a group and begin to imagine opportunities and solutions. Tips
Share stories with your team soon after research so that details are not forgotten. It helps to begin stories with “One time…” or “After such and such happened…” 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 to make it memorable. Make each piece no longer than this sentence. Use vivid details and descriptions. Try to avoid: Generalizing Prescribing (they should, would, could…) Hypothesizing Judging Evaluating or assuming
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Create Frameworks
Create Frameworks
A framework is a visual representation of a system that illustrates elements and relationships. When you create a framework, you put the specific information you have gathered from stories into an easily visualized system. This helps you to contextualize information and see the issues and relationships in a clear, holistic way. You can use the framework as a tool for discussion and as a means to develop or build upon key insights. Not all Design Challenges will yield or require frameworks. Time: 1-2 Hours Difficulty: Difficult Materials: Pen Notepad Participants: design team The HCD Toolkit and all HCD methods are licensed under: Instructions for this Method www.hcdconnect.org/methods/create-frameworks/print.html
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Create Frameworks
1. Gather the team to share stories. Ask team members to listen for moments in story sharing when the topic fits into a larger system or is linked to another piece of information. 2. When team members suggest structures or relationships between things, ask them if they can draw what they are saying. Consider using the example framework types shown in Practical Pointers below: Process map, Venn diagram, Relational map and Two-by-two matrix. 3. Allow some time for your team to play with re-drawing their framework several times until they feel it represents what they want to say in a robust way. Then discuss what the framework implies for the people you are designing for, the community and your organization. Capture any insights and add them to your Insight list. Tips
Dual Frameworks: Sometimes, it will make sense to create two different frameworks, one from the perspective of women in the community and one from the male perspective. To determine whether you need to do this, consider how women’s stories differ from those of men. Does a participant’s gender influence his or her stories about household activities, income opportunities and barriers, and market relations? Is gender itself a theme? Think about creating two different frameworks that will yield different sets of opportunity areas for women and men.
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Empathic Design
Empathic Design This approach to problem solving begins with peoples’ thoughts and feelings. Your design team will work to develop empathy and connect emotionally with the people you are designing for, in order to understand the problems and realities of their lives. Ideally, your team will do research across many different groups of people and “walk in their shoes’’ before trying this method. Time: Days - Weeks Difficulty: Moderate Materials: Pen Camera Notepad Participants: interviewer interviewee community members The HCD Toolkit and all HCD methods are licensed under: Instructions for this Method 1. Encourage the team to connect both rationally and emotionally with people you are designing for. Try out their experience first hand. Feel, see, and hear as they would while going about this activity and day. 2. Remember your task is to understand and empathize with people, not to judge them, their behaviors or decisions. Cultural differences are important to recognize. 3. Make sure the team has spoken with enough people in the HEAR phase to develop empathy. If not, go back to the field and conduct more research. Tips
If you plan on employing empathic design methods, it is important to do research across many different www.hcdconnect.org/methods/empathic-design/print.html
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Empathic Design
groups of people. Consider using empathic design when: the design team has the skills required to develop solutions, the solutions you are seeking are “new to the world� or community politics make it difficult to select a few individuals to work with. Include men and women in the design team to ensure a balance of perspectives. When possible, recruit members of the community with the skills needed to be members of the design team. While the design team generates solutions, you should always have the people you are designing for in mind.
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Extract Key Insights
Extract Key Insights
Dig into your research and you’ll be surprised to uncovering hidden meanings. Insights are revelations, the unexpected things that bringing visibility and clarity to your research. As you extract key insights you’ll turn individual stories into overarching truths and you’ll come to see your Design Challenge in new ways. Time: 45-60 Minutes Difficulty: Moderate Materials: Post-it notes Markers Participants: design team The HCD Toolkit and all HCD methods are licensed under: Instructions for this Method 1. After completing the Storytelling with a Purpose method, ask the team to go to the wall with all the www.hcdconnect.org/methods/extract-key-insights/print.html
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Extract Key Insights
stories and choose five key post-its (stories, quotes, observations) that are most surprising, interesting, or worth pursuing. Edit out the details that are not important. 2. Group these important notes into related thoughts. If some of the thoughts are linked, take several related pieces of information and re-write them as one big one. 3. Write a succinct insight statement that summarizes the big idea for each grouping. Write this on a new post-it note. 4. Post these new insight post-its where all can see. Refer to them as you move towards real-world solutions. Tips
Example Insight: A combination of an observation and quote from an interview yielded the following Insight. Observation: Farmers rely on farming information from their friends and neighbors, though they know this knowledge is limited. Quote: “If the Privatized Extension Agent lived outside my area, I would want to visit his farm so I could see his production.” Insight: Trust-building and knowledge sharing happens through ‘seeing is believing.’ Work at the same level. Check that the insights sit at the same level — that they are all big thoughts. If you find you have some lower level insights, consider whether they might be reframed at a higher level. If they need to be dropped a level, they may be best talked about as needs that inform and support the Insight. Remember P.O.I.N.T., a handy technique for translating the problems and needs identified in storytelling into Insights and Themes. P = Problems O= Obstacles I = Insights N = Needs T = Themes
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Find Themes
Find Themes
Finding themes is about exploring the commonalities, differences, and relationships between the information you’ve gathered, in order to find meaning. Begin by grouping data and sorting your findings into categories or buckets. Cluster related ideas into themes. Consider the relationship between them and look for patterns. You can group and re-group the data in different ways to help you identify opportunities. Time: 30-60 Minutes Difficulty: Easy Materials: Post-it notes Markers Participants: design team The HCD Toolkit and all HCD methods are licensed under: Instructions for this Method 1. Have the team go to the wall or board where they have placed their key story and insight post-its www.hcdconnect.org/methods/find-themes/print.html
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Find Themes
and select the five most interesting quotes, observations and/or insights. 2. On a new board, sort these into categories or buckets, and then cluster the related ideas into themes. 3. Ask the team to look for patterns and consider the relationship between categories. Check to make sure the themes are at the same level and covering the same things. If a theme is too specific, find the bigger idea. If a theme is too broad or has too many different ideas under it, break it down into several buckets. 4. Try moving the post-its around to re-group the data in different ways. Get input from the team and/or expand to seek input from a broader group. 5. When finished sorting, give each theme a title on a new post-it. Make sure there is enough space between or below the different theme categories for the next step of identifying opportunities. Tips
Creating themes can be an engaging and rewarding experience, as you start to group and transform the data before your eyes. Some good techniques for doing this are: Work together as a team to decide how to create buckets and themes. Arrange and re-arrange the post-its on the wall until the team is satisfied with the groupings. If there is a theme that contains almost all the post-its, break it out into several smaller themes. Try to see not only the connections, but also the relevant differences between the information. Remember P.O.I.N.T., a handy technique for translating the problems and needs identified in storytelling into Insights and Themes. P = Problems O = Obstacles I = Insights N = Needs T = Themes
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Try Out A Model
Try Out A Model
For a solution to succeed, you’ll need to design a sustainable revenue stream. There are several fee models your team can try out to see if your ideas are viable. Consider what a solution might look like if it were offered in a variety of different ways, such as by subscription, subsidy or pay-per-use. Time: 1 Hours Difficulty: Difficult Materials: Large paper or flip pad Markers Participants: design team The HCD Toolkit and all HCD methods are licensed under: Instructions for this Method 1. Make sure the team has identified: how each solution will provide value; how much it is worth to the end user and; who will pay for the product or service. With this information you are ready to consider how much people will pay and how payments will be received. www.hcdconnect.org/methods/try-out-a-model/print.html
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Try Out A Model
2. Focusing on one solution at a time, ask the design team to try out different fee models for each. This can be done as a large team, or small groups of two or three can take on individual solutions. 3. Write your list of “Revenue Models” on a large paper or flip pad. Ask the team to go through list and consider what each solution would look like if it was offered in each of the following ways: Membership/Subscription, Give the product—share the income produced, Give the product—sell the refill, Subsidize, Give the product—sell the service, Service only, Pay-per-use. Write all the answers on the flip pad. 4. If the team has split into smaller teams, have the group come back together to share. Review each of the solutions and discuss which of the fee models works best and why. Tips
When assessing the viability of your revenue models, consider the following: End User Value (sometimes called a “Customer Value Proposition”) What is the value for the end user? Refer back to prototypes and participant feedback, highlighting the aspects participants found most important. How much is this worth to them? Revenue sources Is the solution a product, a service or both? How much do users pay? How do they pay: in cash, in kind, in labor, in other? Participant Incentives (sometimes called “Stakeholder incentives”) How does this solution deliver value to each participant involved? What are their incentives to participate or help this solution? What are challenges or disincentives? How might you adapt the solution to encourage others’ participation?”
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Capabilities Quick Sheet
Capabilities Quick Sheet
To make a solution feasible you’ll need to think about where and how your solution will be used or experienced. Consider the capabilities of your organization and who you can partner with to enhance those capabilities. Answer the questions on this Capabilities Quick Sheet to help you identify the range of human, technological, financial and distribution capabilities needed to make your solutions real. Time: 1 Hours Difficulty: Easy Materials: Large paper or flip pads Markers Participants: Design Team The HCD Toolkit and all HCD methods are licensed under: Instructions for this Method 1. Focusing on one solution at a time, ask the design team to go through the following questions. www.hcdconnect.org/methods/capabilities-quick-sheet/print.html
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Capabilities Quick Sheet
2. Write “Distribution” on a large paper or flip pad. Ask team members to answer the following questions and capture answers on the pad. Who are all the possible participants who could deliver this solution? Where, when, how and why might the user experience this solution? Which participants, groups and channels will touch the solution? What other channels could be used to reach users? What is the range of possible ways this solution could be delivered? What are the pros and cons of each of the different delivery possibilities? 3. Write “Capabilities Required” on a separate paper or flip pad. Ask team members to answer the following questions and capture answers on the pad. What human, manufacturing, financial, and technological capabilities are required for creating and delivering this solution? Which of these capabilities do we have in our country or local organization? Which of these capabilities exist somewhere else in our network or international location? Which capabilities will need to be found in partners? Would we need to grow any capabilities on this list? 4. Write “Potential Partners” on a separate paper or flip pad. Ask team members to answer the following questions to create a list of potential partners. Capture answers on the pad. What organizations or individuals have capabilities that we do not? Prioritize them. What is our relationship with them currently? How might we reach out to them and show the value of engaging with our organization on this solution? What is the first step you would take to pursue the top partners identified? Tips
The capabilities of your organization and partners will help inform the feasibility of your solutions. Begin by thinking about the experience of the end user—where and how the community members or end-user will purchase or experience this solution. Then identify the range of capabilities required for making this real. A challenge for the design team is to identify many possible models for delivery that leverage different partners and channels.
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Evaluate Outcomes
Evaluate Outcomes
Evaluating outcomes is important to the learning cycle. Measure, assess and evaluate the impact of your solutions in order to learn, plan, iterate and create new design challenges. A good assessment of a solution provides an opportunity for reflection that will inform the direction and goals for the next round of designs. Measurement also helps stakeholders understand where to best invest their resources and how to plan for the future. Time: 1-2 Hours Difficulty: Easy Materials: Pen Notepad Participants: Design Team The HCD Toolkit and all HCD methods are licensed under: Instructions for this Method 1. Evaluation has many stakeholders, including constituents, community leaders, government officers, www.hcdconnect.org/methods/evaluate-outcomes/print.html
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Evaluate Outcomes
funders, and others. When developing a plan to evaluate outcomes and impact, engage as many of these stakeholders as possible. Work to define what success looks like from these multiple perspectives. 2. Have the team discuss various measurement methods. Refer to methods you have already tried and brainstorm new methods that might be necessary to achieve your specific goals. Decide which of these are appropriate for the challenge and which speak to the interests and goals of the different stakeholders. 3. Develop a plan that includes a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods that will help the team keep learning about how to improve upon solutions and how to deliver those solutions more effectively. Tips
Outcome evaluation should not be a hurdle to the implementers, grantees, or design team. By viewing this phase as a continuation of design and opportunity for learning, outcome measurement can be a rewarding experience for everyone. The measurement process is iterative – return to stories and feedback based on learnings from quantitative measurements, and use stories and feedback to discover which variables to include in quantitative studies.
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Implementation Timeline
Implementation Timeline
After trying the Innovation 2x2 method, plot your findings into an implementation timeline for your organization. Typically, innovations in the incremental category belong early in the timeline and revolutionary innovations further out. Look at relationships of solutions to see whether initiating one solution will build the relationships and partners needed for another solution. Consider which solutions are within the scope of currently funded programs. Assign owners to pursue next steps for each solution. Time: 30 Minutes Difficulty: Easy Materials: Post-it notes Markers Participants: Design Team The HCD Toolkit and all HCD methods are licensed under: Instructions for this Method www.hcdconnect.org/methods/implementation-timeline/print.html
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Implementation Timeline
1. Create post-it notes for a timeline (such as 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year) and post them along a large blank wall in your workspace. 2. Along the timeline, place the solution post-it notes you created in the Innovation 2x2 exercise. Look at relationships of solutions to see whether initiating one solution will build on the relationships and partners needed for another solution. If so, position these solutions in chronological relation to one another. 3. Divide each solution into a series of steps that build toward implementation. Using another color post-it, map each of the steps onto the timeline below the solution. 4. Assign owners or champions for each of the solutions to pursue the next steps. Challenge the team to do something toward implementing each solution in the next two weeks. For some solutions, a pilot can be launched in two weeks. For others, two weeks might be the amount of time required for further study or for the first steps to connecting with partners. Tips
Assigning an individual within your organization as a champion for each solution will help maintain momentum and increase the likelihood of implementation. You may need to take into account which solutions can be explored within the scope of currently funded programs and which solutions suggest the proposal of new grants.
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Innovation 2x2
Innovation 2x2
What type of innovation is right for your project? To understand how new solutions will work within your organization; map them across an axis of new-toexisting users and new-to-existing offerings. This exercise will help you identify whether your solutions are revolutionary, evolutionary or incremental. Knowing whether your solutions extend, adapt or create a new offering helps when considering them in the context of your investment strategy, mission, priorities and appetite for risk. You’ll also clarify whether your solution is targeted at your current user group or whether it expands the group of users. Time: 30-45 Minutes Difficulty: Easy Materials: Large paper or flip pads Markers Post-it notes Participants: Design Team The HCD Toolkit and all HCD methods are licensed under: www.hcdconnect.org/methods/innovation-2x2/print.html
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Innovation 2x2
Instructions for this Method 1. Refer to the example matrix here and review it with the design team. The lower left quadrant represents incremental innovation as these solutions build on existing offerings with familiar users. Evolutionary innovation is about extending into either new offerings or new users while holding the other constant. Revolutionary innovation means tackling both new users and new offerings. 2. Draw the matrix on a large sheet of flip pad paper. Write each solution on a post-it note and place in the appropriate position on the matrix. 3. Look at the distribution of solutions from incremental to revolutionary. Are there gaps in your portfolio of solutions? Are parts of the matrix blank and others full? If so, you may want to go back to Brainstorming in order to develop solutions that will intentionally fill that gap. 4. If the team wants to add solutions to one of the quadrants, develop a “How might we..?� statement and brainstorm new solutions. Tips
As you are mapping solutions, ask whether each solution is targeted at your current user group or whether it expands the group of individuals you serve. Many organizations say they are only looking for revolutionary ideas, but their capabilities are limited to incremental or evolutionary ideas. Funders can steer grantees toward incremental ideas or ones that have been proven to be best practices more easily than revolutionary ones. Make sure you are honest about how far your organization can stretch its capabilities and how willing your funders are to take risks. Map a portfolio of solutions that includes incremental, evolutionary, and revolutionary ideas. Sometimes the ideas with the highest impact are the simple incremental ideas.
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