Checklists

Checklists

Assess your progress 

Use this summary to see if you have what you need for this stage of your design process. Each stage has a series of statements which reflect where you should be by the end of the stage. This summary can help you identify any areas where you might need to focus. 

At the end of each stage, you should share progress and learning. You can use this document to summarise this activity, and to make note of any data or knowledge repositories you created. 

  • We have secured senior sponsorship and appropriate resources for the project.
  • We have a project team with the right skills, knowledge and experience, including access to design expertise.
  • We have identified and planned for the involvement of relevant partners.
  • We have an open mindset and are prepared for working in a different way.
  • We have a stakeholder map and a communications plan.
  • We have a project plan which identifies the resources we will need to take the project forward.
  • We have a deeper understanding of the challenge including the drivers, organisational requirements and the wider context for the service.
  • We are clear on what the project needs to achieve and the measures of success.
  • We have gathered and built on existing information to inform our thinking.
  • We are clear on the constraints and parameters that will impact the project.
  • We have mapped our network of stakeholders and prioritised those who have the greatest influence on our success.
  • We have identified and engaged with a diverse selection of service users (such as tenants/ end users/ carers) to ensure we have gathered multiple perspectives and have considered relevant characteristics such as age, income, geography, ability, advantage, culture, gender, and the range of experience of with the service.
  • We have reached and engaged with people whose voices are less heard including non-typical users and those who are not often included.
  • We have engaged with internal (staff, managers, etc) and external stakeholders (delivery partners, suppliers).
  • We have a deep understanding of user needs and wants for the service.
  • We have a well-rounded understanding of the challenge that needs to be addressed which has been informed by multiple perspectives.

Checkpoint – Sharing progress

To help us keep track of the process and brief new team members, at the end of this stage, we have summarised what we have done, what we have learned and what will happen next.

We have shared this with our team, key people in the wider organisation, and our partners to ensure we are all on the same page and clear on the management and governance of the project.

 

  • We have stored the data in a sharable format.
  • We have organised the data to reveal patterns and themes including different perspectives from a range of service users.
  • We have identified a number of insights that describe the needs or opportunities for the service that we can take forward.
  • We have ensured our insights reflect the needs of end users as well as other key stakeholders.
  • We had our findings checked and critiqued for accuracy and to ensure there are no gaps in our understanding of the challenge.
  • Where possible, we have presented the data and findings in a visual and sharable format.
  • We have sense checked our findings with service users and other key stakeholders.
  • We have reviewed and clearly defined the desired outcomes and success measures for the project.
  • We have identified the end users and unmet needs we will focus on (prioritise) in line with the limits or constraints we need to work within.
  • We have created a design brief to summarise the problem we will focus on, for which user groups which describes how they will benefit and the impact on our organisation.
  • We have planned an approach to engage key stakeholders to collaboratively generate possible solutions to the problem.
  • We have identified the best idea generating tools to meet the needs of the project and the participants.
  • Where possible, we have involved external expertise and knowledge as well as some “wild cards”.
  • We have looked at other sources, including outside of our sector, for inspiration.
  • We have organised our ideas and prioritised possible solutions in line with service user needs and success criteria.
  • We have design expertise in the team to prototype the idea in an engaging and visual way.
  • We have identified participants who could test and provide feedback on the solutions, including service users, staff and delivery partners.
  • We have distilled the key learning from the feedback and used this to improve the original solution.
  • We have gone through several sets of testing and refining the prototype based on feedback from a diversity of stakeholders.
  • We have documented the process to ensure transparency in decision making.
  • We have created a plan to implement the service in stages and are working towards a full scale roll out.
  • We have selected stakeholders to test the early version of the service to capture any issues and problems.
  • We have identified and created resources to help people use the service easily.
  • We have continued to gather feedback from across different stakeholder groups to capture opportunities for improvement.
  • We have piloted the service with internal and external teams that connect with the service to ensure compatibility with other services.
  • We have ensured all relevant stakeholders have used the service and provided feedback as needed.
  • We have created and are delivering a communications plan to ensure all service users, delivery staff and partners have the information they need about the service.
  • We have tailored key messages to be relevant to the needs of each stakeholder group and provided in the format they prefer.
  • We continue to gather data to monitor the effectiveness of the service and to identify where improvements can be made.
  • We have planned an evaluation process to evidence the impact of the service.

Find out more

Last Updated: 13 December 2023