The category of selecting includes design tools that help you evaluate and select ideas or draft solutions.
Some tools are intended for an initial general selection, whereas others offer a somewhat more thorough approach that is suitable for an advanced stage in the design process.
A number of general principles apply to each tool in the category selecting:
- You can use most tools on your own, but they work best if you work with your team or even a larger group.
- The evaluations are estimations, but they do not show the actual performance of an idea or draft solution: that will take an assessment.
- The evaluations help identify considerations. This leads to well-argued designs and can contribute to fruitful talks with the target group, client or other stakeholders.
design tools
What
Dot voting is a fast way of reaching consensus about the most interesting ideas in a large collection of ideas.
Why
Generating ideas often leads to so many ideas at an early stage while assessment criteria are still vague that it makes no sense to evaluate each idea thoroughly. Dot voting makes use of gut feelings and the wisdom of crowds to make a quick initial selection of ideas.
How
- Collect a group of people to participate in the dot vote. This could be your team or a group of stakeholders involved with the issue.
- Inventory all of your ideas for solutions and explain them briefly to the group.
- Ask the participants to select their top-3 of ideas: three dots for the best idea, two dots for the second-best idea and one dot for third place.
- Sort the ideas from most dots to fewest.
- Reflect on the top-5 of ideas that have emerged from the dot vote. What makes the ideas good? How could they be made even better? Has any idea not made it that is worth discussing nonetheless?
- Draw up a definitive top-5 of ideas.
What
A Harris profile is a visual representation of the strengths and weaknesses of an idea or a draft solution.
Why
A Harris profile tests ideas or draft solutions against a number of criteria and represents them visually. Drawing up a Harris profile for several ideas or draft solutions allows you to evaluate and compare them easily.
How
- Identify the five to ten main criteria for assessing an idea or a draft solution.
- Develop the structure of a Harris profile. This is a table in which the rows contain the criteria and the columns contain the assessment of these criteria. Each row contains four columns or blocks: -2, -1, +1, +2. See the sample template.
- Draw up a Harris profile for each idea or draft solution you want to evaluate. On the basis of each criterion, evaluate the idea or the draft solution for its expected effect. In case of excellent performance: +2; in case of very poor performance: -2; or give an in-between mark. Use the sample template if you wish.
- Colour the blocks to make the assessment come out visually. If the criteria are equally important, you could add up the scores for each component to arrive at an overall score for the idea or draft solution.
- Juxtapose the Harris profiles for each idea or draft solution, compare them and reflect on them. What are their strong suits? How can weaknesses be addressed? Which idea or draft solution appears best?
- Select the ideas or draft solutions considered best in order to develop them further.
Template Harris profile
What
Weighted criteria is a thorough, systematic comparative method for ideas or draft solutions.
Why
Not all criteria are equally weighty. By applying weights to the various criteria for ideas or draft solutions, you can arrive at an overall score. This allows for a more thorough and easier comparison.
How
- Identify the five to ten main criteria for assessing an idea or a draft solution.
- Allocate a weight in percentages to each criterion. The most important criterion gets the most weight – the highest percentage – whereas the least important one gets the least weight – the lowest percentage. The percentages should add up to 100.
- Create an assessment table, placing the criteria in rows and the ideas or draft solutions to be assessed in columns. Use the sample template if you wish.
- Assess the ideas or draft solutions on their expected performance for each criterion, from 1 (very poor) to 10 (excellent).
- Calculate the overall assessment for each draft solution by multiplying the assessment of each criterion by the weight or percentage accorded to this criterion and adding up the numbers you get.
- Reflect on the assessments. Is the idea or draft solution with the highest score, in fact, the best? Which other ideas or draft solutions score well, and why? Are there ideas or draft solutions that can be combined?
- Select the ones that score highest in order to develop them further.
Template weighted criteria
What
A now/how/wow matrix is an efficient way of sorting a large collection of ideas for feasibility and originality.
Why
Generating ideas often leads to so many ideas at an early stage, while assessment criteria are still vague, that it makes no sense to evaluate each idea thoroughly. The now/how/wow matrix uses the most basic criteria of feasibility and originality to make a quick first classification of ideas.
How
- Inventory all of your ideas for solutions.
- Set up the structure of a now/how/wow matrix, with an X axis for originality and a Y axis for feasibility. Use the sample template if you wish. There are four categories to be identified:
- ‘Now’ ideas form the category of low-hanging fruit: ideas that are not necessarily original but that are quite feasible.
- ‘How’ ideas are original ideas that are not immediately feasible.
- ‘Wow’ ideas are both original and feasible.
- ‘Ow’ ideas (often the residual category) are neither feasible nor original. These ideas are simply not worth it.
- Place the ideas in a matrix.
- Reflect on the outcome. Which ideas could be realised now? Which ideas should be selected in any case? Which ideas are worth working out?
- Draw up a top-5 of ideas.
Template now/how/wow matrix
What
The wheel of impact is a visual way of assessing ideas or draft solutions using the Sustainable Development Goals.
Why
The Sustainable Development Goals provide a widely used framework for assessing the impact of ideas or draft solutions. The wheel of impact helps compare the impact of various ideas or draft solutions.
How
- Elaborate on the structure of the wheel of impact on a flip chart, whiteboard, wall or table, or use the sample template.
- Decide which ideas or draft solutions you want to compare. Give each idea or draft solution its own colour.
- Estimate how well the idea or draft solution will score for each Sustainable Development Goal and indicate this in the wheel of impact using the right colour.
- Reflect on the outcome. Which ideas or draft solutions have the most impact? Which ideas or draft solutions are worth elaborating?
- Choose an idea or draft solution, or a few, for elaboration.
Brainstorm ways to increase the impact of the selected ideas or draft solutions.
Template wheel of impact
What
The innovation sweet spot helps determine quickly which ideas are worthwhile.
Why
Generating ideas often leads to so many ideas at an early stage, while assessment criteria are still vague, that it makes no sense to evaluate each idea thoroughly. Ideas are worthwhile if they are feasible, desirable and legitimate. This is the innovation sweet spot. Looking at all of your ideas through this prism lets you identify the best ideas fast.
How
- Elaborate on the Venn diagram of the innovation sweet spot on a flip chart, whiteboard, wall or table, or use the sample template.
- Place all ideas in the Venn diagram.
- Reflect on the outcome. Which ideas are closest to the innovation sweet spot? Which ideas are worth elaborating?
- Draw up a top-5 of ideas.
