How to use this toolkit

The Project Design Toolkit will give you and your team easy access to project design tools and templates.

To remain a relevant and agile humanitarian actor operating under constantly changing conditions, it is imperative to be curious and critical of what we do and how we do it. 

This toolkit will help you to...

  • Anticipate the future
  • Understand and engage ecosystems
  • Overcome bias and assess problems in new ways
  • Brainstorm, be creative and co-creating
  • Test and validate new ideas and concepts fast
  • Achieve even greater impact

… together with the people that we work with and for!

How does it work?

 

Selecting tools

The “Phases” filter which tools that are displayed.

The toolkit is particularly relevant in the first phases of a project cycle, namely in the “Initial assessment” and “Planning” phases.

But can be used throughout the project cycle to validate- and adjust the project design.

It is optional to further filter the tools by choosing the time you have available for an exercise and whether the exercise is appropriate for online or face-to-face use. 

Top menu bar

Here you find background information, definitions and principles, examples of how colleagues have used the respective tools under peer-to-peer and general inspiration.

I’m missing a tool

This toolkit is a growing resource and tools will be added according needs and demands. Tools may also be removed should they prove to provide insufficient in providing the relevant support.

Therefore, do share any feedback you may have!

Toolkit phases

Mobilize

In this phase you will find tools that can help map, analyse, identify, and interact with the right stakeholders for your project.

Mobilization is about getting the right stakeholders engaged at the right time to provide the project with the best possible content and conditions. Stakeholders such as beneficiaries, humanitarian-, public-, private partners, internally in the organisation, donors, researchers etc.

Mobilization is relevant in all phases in a typical project cycle.

 

Exploration

Here you can find tools to anticipate the future, assess needs, context and stakeholders as well as to scope the problem.

Exploration is about identifying the most relevant problem or opportunity to address now or in the future to come. Understanding the root causes and contributing factors of a given problem as well as understanding the stakeholders involved is key to any successful project. The more time spent on this, the less is the likelihood of developing an inappropriate solution and response.

Exploration mostly falls under the “Initial Assessment” phase in a typical project cycle.

 

Design

Here you can find tools for brainstorming, to do idea- and concept development, validate ideas, understand end-users and the solution value proposition.

Designing is about identifying and developing the best solution for the problem identified with your team and relevant stakeholders. It gives the best conditions for developing the most relevant and effective solution.

Designing mostly falls under the “Planning” phase in a typical project cycle, e.g., in an inception phase.

 

Test

Here you can find tools to assess proposed solutions, develop prototypes, make testing plans, evaluate the solution test.

Testing is doing a set of quick and small-scale tests in the implementation context with relevant stakeholders to assess if the solution appropriately addresses the problem identified and whether a pilot can be justified. Testing can strengthen risk management, the quality of resources spent and ultimately accountability.

Testing mostly falls under the “Planning” phase in a typical project cycle, e.g., in an inception phase.

 

Feasibility

Here you can find tools to assess operational capacity and assess tested assumptions.

Feasibility assessment is the realistic assessment of internal and external factors that can affect the successful and sustainable implementation of a validated solution. These could be appropriate human- and financial resources to sustain the solution, continued buy-in from relevant stakeholders, factors in the implementation contexts that can affect the sustainable implementation of the solution.

Feasibility assessment fall under the “Planning” phase in a typical project cycle, e.g., in an inception phase.

 

Pilot

Here you can find tools to develop a theory of change and assessing the pilot launched.

Piloting is done when a solution concept is validated sufficiently by relevant stakeholders to be implemented in a normal operational context. This means that the solution has been live tested with relevant stakeholders, potential risks of doing harm have been minimised and that it has been evaluated that it is feasible and sustainable to implement the solution.

Piloting would fall under the “Planning” phase in a typical programme cycle.

 

Scale

Here you can find tools to assess potentials for scale and to develop a scaling strategy and vision.

Scaling is scaling the impact of a proven impactful solution. ‘Scaling out’ is impacting greater numbers, ‘scaling deep’ is rooting the impact in the context and ‘scaling up’ is about influencing policies and laws.

Scaling would fall under the “Implementation and monitoring” phase in a typical project cycle.

 

All

All tools for all project development phases will be displayed.

HOW WERE THE TOOLS CHOSEN?

Principles for choice of tools are based on the following design-thinking principles:

Emphasizing with the relevant stakeholders to understand what they need; Defining the most relevant problem to address; Ideating open-mindedly and creatively to find the best solution to the problem we want to address; Prototype testing to understand the most relevant and feasible solution with those affected by the problem and implementers of solution.

Based on those principles, tools come fields such as anthropology, innovation, development and humanitarian sector, communication.

Glossary of key terms

  • Design – to identify and develop the best solution for the problem identified with your team and relevant stakeholders.
  • Enabling factor – internal and external factors that enables the viability of a solution. E.g., sufficient supportive strategies, buy-in from necessary stakeholders, resources, skills etc.
  • End-user – those who will be the primary user of a solution (not necessarily primary beneficiary!)
  • Exploration - is about identifying the most relevant problem or opportunity to address now or in the future to come
  • Feasibility - assessing feasibility is the realistic assessment of internal and external factors that can affect the successful and sustainable implementation of a validated solution
  • Futures and Foresight – ‘Futures' refers to different approaches to thinking about the future and exploring factors that could give rise to possible and probable future characteristics, events and behaviours. 'Foresight' refers to a process of conducting Futures work.
  • Innovation (noun) – something new is introduced in a new context
  • Innovation - the process of innovating – distinct tools, methodologies, and processes
  • Innovation management – the discipline of effectively and efficiently strategizing, planning and managing innovation initiatives to achieve the greatest possible impact with resources spent.
  • Invention – something new to the world
  • Iteration - is a methodology based on a cyclic process of prototyping, testing and analyzing to refine a product or process
  • Minimum viable product (MVP) - the simplest version of a solution (and least expensive) that contains all the core components necessary to be piloted effectively
  • Persona - is a holistic fictional, yet representative, archetype of a given stakeholder group used to personify needs and desires to help gain empathy and a better understanding of the group to enable better design.
  • Pilot – is a project testing a validated solution concept that has been validated in a normal operational context to demonstrate feasibility and verifying impact potential.
  • Pipeline – the portfolio of projects divided into stages in the innovation process
  • Portfolio – the collected sum of projects; the portfolio can visualise how indivudual projects collectively address an overall challenge(s) to realise a country strategy
  • Prototype – demonstrate the functionality of the concept or solution in a tangible form to gain deeper understanding of design, relevance as well as to mitigate risk and spend resources best possible
  • Proof-of-concept - evidence, typically deriving from an experiment or pilot project, which demonstrates that a new solution is practically feasible and verifying impact potential.
  • Scaling – is scaling the impact of a proven impactful solution
  • Test - is a set of quick and small-scale tests in the implementation context with relevant stakeholders to assess if a solution appropriately addresses the problem identified and whether a pilot can be justified.