INTRO

Strategic Design techniques

(ASK + TRY + DO) are steps to help you inquire, experiment and create.

ASK

CREATE AN OPPORTUNITY

• Find facts

• Find meaning

• Find inspiration

TRY

CREATE A PROTOTYPE

• Ideate

• Make

• Test

DO

CREATE A

VALUED OUTCOME

• Decide

• Implement

• Evaluate

ASK: Create the opportunity

FINDING FACTS (OBSERVE):

Identify questions, conduct user research, review evidence, define criteria for success.

FINDING MEANING (FROM INSIGHTS):

Interpret & synthesize findings, review findings, identify chunks of the problem that stand out as small enough to solve.

FINDING/FRAME OPPORTUNITIES

Frame these “chunks” as opportunities (“How might we?”), generate ideas to pursue the opportunities (Brainstorm),

evaluate and sort the ideas using criteria for success, pick one idea to prototype, re-frame the opportunity.

TRY: CREATE A PROTOTYPE

PROTOTYPE:

Produce a tangible or visible version of (part) of your idea,

e.g. a sketch, flow-chart, skit, story model, story-board, map

– keep it fast and sample.

TEST:

Test your prototype by designing simple experiments that you can do quickly and cheaply, run the experiment with real users and collect feedback, re-visit criteria for success.

REFINE:

Refine and enhance your prototype again and again, based on feedback from experiments, and if you discover the idea won’t work just scrap it and go back to your idea list and try another one or go back even further and re-frame the opportunity.

DO: Create a Valued Outcome

IMPLEMENT:

Work with users and stakeholders to develop a plan to roll out your solution and consider a staged approach to enable on-going improvement of the outcomes.

EVALUATE:

Establish a process and metrics for

on-going evaluation. Consider viewing the solution as an on-going “beta” model, which is open for continuous improvement.

INNOVATE:

Design an on-going innovation strategy into your production and quality assurance processes, be sure to include user research in your strategy.