The category of assessing includes design tools that help you evaluate solutions at an early stage of their development.
The tools describe various ways to quickly and easily conceive different types of solutions – physical, digital, or, in fact, highly technical. This enables you to assess the solutions at an early stage, thereby avoiding major errors at later stages. That’s a lot of trouble saved.
A number of general principles apply to each tool in the category of assessing:
- Choose the right form of assessment, fitting the type of solution.
- Record as much as possible while assessing.
- Assess the assessment; first try it out with your team.
- Do not strive to make it too pretty. The idea is to get to the gist fast and evaluate the solution.
design tools
What
Rapid prototyping is a way to test a solution by building a model of it using simple craft materials – cardboard, Styrofoam, tape, wooden skewers, and so on.
Why
Rapid prototyping brings a solution to life. Often, a simple model is enough to get an idea of how the solution would work. This can help you evaluate and improve a solution in an early stage of development.
How
- Think about how you can create a rudimentary version or model of the solution. What does the solution look like? What exactly do you want to model? What materials do you have at your disposal to do this?
- Collect or make the required materials.
- Build a model of the solution.
- Present the prototype to relevant stakeholders involved in the issue and ask for feedback.
What
A role play is a way to test a solution by acting it out.
Why
Through role play, a solution can be made tangible quickly and easily. This allows you to evaluate and improve the solution in an early stage of development.
How
- Think about how you could simulate the solution through role play. What will the experience, process, or interaction of the solution look like? How could this be acted out? What does the scenario look like? What roles are there? Is a script needed? What props, environment, and costumes can support the role play?
- Create the necessary elements for the role-play. If needed, write a script, make props and costumes, build the environment, and so on.
- Gather a team of actors (for example, your teammates), assign the roles, go through the scripts, and set everything up.
- Invite a group of people to take part in the role play, in which they play (or are) the target group of the solution.
- Perform the scenario.
- Afterwards, reflect on the experience together with the actors and participants. What stood out? How did it feel? Could this solution work in reality? What would need attention then? What could be improved? And also: what went well and should be preserved?
What
Video prototyping is a way to test a solution by using video.
Why
With a video prototype, a solution can easily and quickly be made imaginable. This allows you to evaluate and improve the solution in an early stage of development.
How
- Think about the scenario in which the solution is used. Which different steps and activities can be distinguished? In what order do they take place?
- Come up with a storyline around the scenario. Which people play a role in it? What is being thought and said?
- Consider how the storyline can be communicated through video. Which scenes can be distinguished? What exactly happens in these scenes? Where does it take place? Which roles are there? Is a script needed? What props and costumes are needed?
- Organize everything needed to create the video. Collect or make the required props and costumes, arrange the location(s), write a script, arrange a camera and a team of actors (your teammates), assign the roles, and so on.
- Record the different scenes. Make sure you have enough video material.
- Edit the video.
- Show the video to relevant stakeholders involved in the issue and ask for feedback on the solution.
What
Wizard of Oz is a way to bring a technological solution to life by making it operate through “human power”.
Why
Wizard of Oz allows you to make a technological solution easy and quick to experience. This makes it possible to evaluate and improve the solution in an early stage of development.
How
- Think about how you could simulate the solution using “human power”. What functionalities does the solution have?
- How could a person realise these functionalities? What tools are needed for this?
- Collect or create the necessary tools.
- Appoint a “wizard” - the person who operates the solution - and practice how the solution will function.
- Ask a group of people to test the solution, in which they play (or are) the target group. If needed, give them an assignment that forces them to explore the functionalities of the solution.
- Let the participants test the solution and observe. How do they interact with the solution? How does the functioning of the solution seem to work for them? Ask the participants to think out loud.
- Afterwards, reflect on the solution together with the participants. What did they think of it? How did the solution work for them? What went well? What could be improved? What should be taken into account in the further development of the solution? Also, discuss any striking observations.
What
Paper prototyping is a way to test a digital solution using printed or hand-drawn screens.
Why
Paper prototyping allows you to easily and quickly simulate a digital solution. This makes it possible to evaluate and improve the solution in an early stage of development.
How
- Lay out the basic structure of the digital solution. Create a diagram of the different functionalities and corresponding screens, and how these are organised in relation to one another.
- Decide which functionalities you want to evaluate and identify which screens need to be created for this.
- Create the required screens – draw them by hand or use a digital tool and then print them out.
- Ask a group of people to test the solution, in which they play (or are) the target group. Give them an assignment that forces them to use the different functionalities of the solution.
- Let the participants test the solution by continually showing them the screen that the real digital solution would display at that moment. Observe how they interact with the solution. Ask the participants to think out loud.
- Afterwards, reflect on the solution together with the participants. What did they think of it? How did the solution work for them? Were they able to complete the assignment? What went well? What could be improved? What should be taken into account in the further development of the solution? Also discuss any notable observations.
What
A storyboard is a sequential story that describes the solution.
Why
A storyboard makes it easy and quick to imagine a solution. This allows you to evaluate and improve the solution in an early stage of development.
How
- Think about the scenario in which the solution is used. Which different steps and activities can be distinguished? In what order do they take place?
- Come up with a storyline around the scenario. Which people play a role in it? What is being thought and said?
- Consider how the storyline can be communicated through a series of images, possibly with some text.
- Elaborate on the storyline using images and text. Use the example template if needed.
- Present the storyboard to the relevant stakeholders involved in the issue. Let them go through the story and ask for feedback on the solution.
Template storyboard
What
Critical assumptions help you identify assumptions about how the solution functions and think of a suitable testing method.
Why
Often, an innovative solution does not yet exist, so there are only assumptions about its effects. Before fully elaborating the solution, it is important to identify these assumptions and, crucially, to assess them.
How
- For this exercise, use the accompanying template, print it or copy it onto an A3 sheet, flip chart or whiteboard.
- Think about the assumptions your solution is based on. These could involve its desirability, functionality, effectiveness, feasibility and so on.
- Select the most important assumptions that need to be assessed. Which assumption makes or breaks the solution?
- Formulate a research question based on this assumption.
- Reflect on a way to answer the research question, for example, using one of the other tools in the category of ‘Assessing’ (paper prototyping, video prototyping, storyboarding, et cetera).
- Define indicators. What must you take into account while assessing to obtain an answer to your research question?
- Formulate a plan. How will you carry out the assessment? What is the setup or context, what do you need and when will you carry it out?
Template critical assumptions
What
Working mechanisms are the functions a solution must meet in order to achieve the intended goal.
Why
A solution is only a ‘format’ (the ‘what’) for fulfilling specific functions (the ‘how’) with which the intended goal (the ‘value’) can be met. Sometimes the ‘what’ cannot be created or implemented just like that, making it hard to test. In such cases, it can be helpful to see if there is an alternative way to test the ‘how’.
How
- For this exercise, use the accompanying template, print it or copy it onto an A3 sheet, flip chart or whiteboard.
- Consider the working mechanisms of your solution. Which functions must the solution meet to achieve the intended goal?
- Select the most important function to be tested. Which function, or which working mechanism, makes the solution successful?
- Formulate a hypothesis for the selected mechanism.
- Brainstorm ways of testing the hypothesis in a ‘quick and dirty’ way. This could involve using one of the other tools in the ‘Assessing’ category (Wizard of Oz, role-playing, etc.). Or maybe you can think of another format?
- Define indicators. What should you pay attention to when testing the hypothesis?
Formulate a plan. How will you carry out the assessment? What is the setup or context, what do you need and when will you carry it out?
