Co-creating opportunities for change 

The goal of Step 1 is to identify what the system is and who the actors are.

There are four tools to guide this step.

Design challenge

A design challenge is a way to describe the issue you want to address based on the insights you’ve gathered so far. It is used as a first activity to create an initial formulation of the challenge you will address, for who, with whom and why. 

System boundaries

A system boundary defines the area of the system you are exploring and marks the limits of your field of research and action. It is used to help identify what subsystems are involved and which systems are not currently involved but could add value.

Actors map

An actor’s map is a tool to identify, represent and understand the key players (organisations/individuals/non-human agents) involved in the system. It’s used to create a visual representation of the most important actors in the system and who you might interview through the experience interviews.

Rich context 

The rich context tool helps you to gain a deeper understanding of how different actors are engaged with the issue: what is currently being done to tackle the issue, emerging niche ways of addressing the problem, and why the system should change.

The goal of Step 2 is to understand the needs and drivers of the actors in the system and to identify the relationships and dynamics that cause the current conditions and behaviours.

There are four tools to guide this step.

Niche discovery

Niche discovery defines the key characteristics of the most successful emerging initiatives or niche innovations you want to adopt in your intervention strategy. It helps you determine assumptions about current initiatives’ success criteria that you can check during the interviews.

Actor dimensions

Actor dimensions are central characteristics considered important when selecting who to interview later in step 2. This tool helps to create (extreme) profiles of the actors to interview to gain the most insights with the smallest sample - those most affected by the issue, actors contributing to the problem, and actors trying to improve the situation.

Research hypotheses

A research hypothesis is a method to conduct research and prepare your interview questions on multiple levels. The tool helps you to gain a deeper understanding of the issue and the current status quo and develop specific questions to ask during interviews with various actors.

Experience interview

This is an interview method to discover the factors contributing to the issue and the dynamics over time. At a basic level, conducting interviews will provide testimonials and stories about how people experienced the issue. Deeper probing or post-interview analysis can be done to reveal richer information.

In Step 3, the goal is to identify the highest potential for change. 
 
There are three tools to guide this step.

Personas

Creating a persona is a technique to summarise your findings from the experience interviews by making fictional portraits of the most extreme actors. Personas are input for the connection circle and causal loops system map.

Connection circle

A connection circle is a tool to map the variables discovered in the interviews and desk research, investigate how these are connected, and find the balancing and reinforcing loops.

Causal loops mapping

A causal loops map is a tool to create a visualisation of the system, its structure, and the interrelations between the elements of the system. This tool helps you to recognise the leverage possibilities and to identify the engine for change, examined in more detail later in your intervention strategy.

The goal of Step 4 is to create a shared understanding of what you want to achieve.  
 
There are three tools to guide this step. 

Design challenge map

A design challenge map is a tool for recognising the most potential for change in the system. The tool helps you to revise and refine the initial design challenge and to identify and define the interrelated challenges.

Empathy map

An empathy map gives your Social Lab participants empathetic insight into the desires and dreams of the actors most affected by the issue you’re addressing. It also provides insight into other actors’ perspectives, barriers, and drivers. This helps to clarify what you want to achieve for the different personas at the individual level.

Value proposition

The value proposition is a tool for exploring the benefits you want to create in the future for individuals, organisations and society in the system. It helps to define a shared vision of the desired future and to minimise the risk of unintended consequences.

In Step 5, you explore possibilities for intervening on the leverage points to define your intervention strategy. 
 
There are five tools in this step.

Intervention strategy

An intervention strategy is a method to understand and explore on which levels (where and what) you should intervene in the system to achieve the intended value for both the system and individuals. The tool is used as a first step to explore possible interventions.

Outcome map

An outcome map is used to define and visualise the major activities and outcomes of a change programme. The tool helps you develop a concrete programme description with clear links between preconditions, activities, intervention goals, generated value and the long-term vision. It is your first roadmap for change.

Stakeholder mobilisation

This tool helps you to select who you want and need in the room to elaborate on your activities, pilot and scale up. It enables you to assess which stakeholders are already involved and who still needs to be added to achieve your goals and identify potential participants to invite for the next steps.

Collaboration model

A collaboration model helps you explore potential collaborations and future partnerships necessary to achieve the required system change. This tool is used when you discover, through your intervention strategy, that you cannot reach the necessary change with the current capacities.

Contextual variations

This tool helps you reflect on implementing your change strategy in other contexts. This tool is used when you want to explore how to deploy your intervention strategy in a different context and will result in an adapted outcome map.

The goal of this last step is to set up your pilot. 

There are three tools to support this step.

Programme outline test cards

These test cards are a method for receiving feedback on your programme outline, especially from those affected by the issue you’re tackling. It’s used to gain insight into how to improve your programme before you develop the activities.

Prototyping preparation

This tool helps you to define what and how to prototype - descriptions of the artefacts, products, and services to develop and test. It’s used to build a minimally viable version of your interventions so you can test it out in a first pilot.

Pilot

The pilot tool guides you through testing your critical interventions in a real-life setting. It is the first step in implementing a change. You create a refined and elaborated action plan based on the outcome of your pilot.