A logic model is a story or picture of how an effort or initiative is supposed to work. A logic model is similar to a road map, it shows the route traveled or steps taken to reach a certain destination. The process of developing the model brings together stakeholders to articulate the goals of the program and the values that support it, and to identify strategies and desired outcomes of the initiative.

Personas and their plural form, user groups, serve as a tool to allow designers to focus on the individuals who will be accessing their product or service. Personas are not meant to be a single fiction of the user group’s experience, but rather a way to express their experiences in a rich and nuanced manner.

Social science research can be used at various times during the course of innovation, from researching the nature of the problem to considering prototypes that have been implemented in other places. In general, peer-reviewed research is seen as the highest quality, followed by government reports, reports form non-partisan independent organizations, news articles, and finally reports from advocacy/partisan organizations.

When used in innovation and developmental evaluation contexts, surveys are a way to rapidly gather information about a specific topic. Surveys can be anonymous or identified, but generally can surface information that individuals would not feel comfortable saying out loud.

An interview is a type of conversation in which one participant asks questions to learn information from another. Interviews can be used to gather information at multiple steps of the innovation journey with a diverse range of stakeholders. For this reason, the amount of structure used by the interviewer can vary, from following a very strict line of questioning to flowing with the interviewee.

A user journey map “is a visualization of the experiences people have when interacting with a product or service, so that each moment can be individually evaluated and improved” (Martin & Hanington, 2012:25). This helps place a product or service in a much larger context, in the real world and over time. This also helps the design team to identify what they know of the journey, and where knowledge gaps exist. It provides insight into areas to explore and further questions to be answered.

Focus groups are collective conversations where interested or impacted people are able to come together to share their opinions. Focus groups add an additional dimension to information collection as they allow for interpersonal interactions and brainstorming that are not possible in a survey or individual interview.

Open Space is a meeting format used to create opportunities for people to engage deeply and creatively around issues of concern to them. It is a simple and powerful way to catalyze effective working conversations in times of change.

The World Cafe is a method for creating a collaborative dialogue around questions that matter, a metaphor for enabling ‘table conversations’ that might happen within a diverse cafe. This dialogue tool is a great way of fostering interactions with both large and small groups.

Policy field mapping is a visual diagram used to bring clarity to the relationships between institutions in the policy field of interest. This tool supports the identification of domains of work, accountability, relationships, and resources within the policy field.

A process map visually describes workflows or the events that produce a particular outcome. Process maps can be helpful in identifying challenges, determining opportunities for innovation, or modeling complexity. Process maps are also useful in defining boundaries and accountability.

Harvesting is the documentation of valuable information exchanged during gatherings. The ultimate goal is to capture the essence of the meeting, recollect significant details, recognize patterns, and derive meaningful conclusions. The meaning is then made visible and accessible to others within the relevant context, fostering a more informed and connected community of participants.

A way of diagramming the network of people who have a stake in a given system. Who is involved? What do they care about? How much influence do they have?

Small group conversations provide a more intimate setting. It is an effective space to go deeper faster and to get to know each other better. Triads allow us to witness each other, to share stories that bring us together, and begin to eliminate assumptions that we might be holding onto.

Storytelling is one of the most powerful knowledge management tools of the Art of Hosting Community. Collective harvesting enables us to track many arcs of a single story simultaneously, meaning we can practice targeted listening and group learning, while offering a gift to the story holders.

Cognitive mapping is any visual representation of a person’s (or a group’s) mental model for a given process or concept and may also take the form of mind maps or concept maps. There are no visual rules that they need to obey: there is no restriction on how the concepts and the relationships between them are visually represented. They are used to externalize knowledge, identify themes across different concepts and model thinking.

As a research method, journaling is a powerful way to learn about the inner workings of people as they document their experiences with a particular product or issue.

Role plays are a way to rapid test an idea and put it into action. The goal of the role play is to simulate the user experience for a product or service. The data gathered can then be used to refine an idea.

Open Space is a meeting format used to create opportunities for people to engage deeply and creatively around issues of concern to them. It is a simple and powerful way to catalyze effective working conversations in times of change.

This tool is designed to support reflection and strategy refinement when working on complex projects across organizations/sectors/systems. An iterative tool, the Public Value Implementation Canvas helps teams align their purposes, develop shared language, and build a collective understanding of the public value being created.

Place It! is participation-based urban planning design practice founded by urban planner James Rojas and his partner John Kemp. In Place It!, model-building workshops and on-site interactive models help engage the public in the planning and design process. The goal is to help humanize planning processes by building relationships and trust between systems and the people who use them.

The World Cafe is a method for creating a collaborative dialogue around questions that matter, a metaphor for enabling ‘table conversations’ that might happen within a diverse cafe. This dialogue tool is a great way of fostering interactions with both large and small groups.

Harvesting is the documentation of valuable information exchanged during gatherings. The ultimate goal is to capture the essence of the meeting, recollect significant details, recognize patterns, and derive meaningful conclusions. The meaning is then made visible and accessible to others within the relevant context, fostering a more informed and connected community of participants.

Small group conversations provide a more intimate setting. It is an effective space to go deeper faster and to get to know each other better. Triads allow us to witness each other, to share stories that bring us together, and begin to eliminate assumptions that we might be holding onto.

The concept of Pro Action Café is a blend of ‘World Café' and ‘Open Space’. It is designed as a space for creative and action-oriented conversation where participants are invited to bring their call/ projects/ ideas/ questions or whatever they feel called by and need help to manifest in the world.

Cognitive mapping is any visual representation of a person’s (or a group’s) mental model for a given process or concept and may also take the form of mind maps or concept maps. There are no visual rules that they need to obey: there is no restriction on how the concepts and the relationships between them are visually represented. They are used to externalize knowledge, identify themes across different concepts and model thinking.

Affinity clustering is a graphic technique for sorting items according to similarity and can help avoid the roadblock of information overload.

As a research method, journaling is a powerful way to learn about the inner workings of people as they document their experiences with a particular product or issue.

Storyboarding is a series of images showing the key elements and interactions of a new scenario.

A logic model is a story or picture of how an effort or initiative is supposed to work. A logic model is similar to a road map, it shows the route traveled or steps taken to reach a certain destination. The process of developing the model brings together stakeholders to articulate the goals of the program and the values that support it, and to identify strategies and desired outcomes of the initiative.

Personas and their plural form, user groups, serve as a tool to allow designers to focus on the individuals who will be accessing their product or service. Personas are not meant to be a single fiction of the user group’s experience, but rather a way to express their experiences in a rich and nuanced manner.

Role plays are a way to rapid test an idea and put it into action. The goal of the role play is to simulate the user experience for a product or service. The data gathered can then be used to refine an idea.

A user journey map “is a visualization of the experiences people have when interacting with a product or service, so that each moment can be individually evaluated and improved” (Martin & Hanington, 2012:25). This helps place a product or service in a much larger context, in the real world and over time. This also helps the design team to identify what they know of the journey, and where knowledge gaps exist. It provides insight into areas to explore and further questions to be answered.

This tool is designed to support reflection and strategy refinement when working on complex projects across organizations/sectors/systems. An iterative tool, the Public Value Implementation Canvas helps teams align their purposes, develop shared language, and build a collective understanding of the public value being created.

The World Cafe is a method for creating a collaborative dialogue around questions that matter, a metaphor for enabling ‘table conversations’ that might happen within a diverse cafe. This dialogue tool is a great way of fostering interactions with both large and small groups.

Place It! is participation-based urban planning design practice founded by urban planner James Rojas and his partner John Kemp. In Place It!, model-building workshops and on-site interactive models help engage the public in the planning and design process. The goal is to help humanize planning processes by building relationships and trust between systems and the people who use them.

Harvesting is the documentation of valuable information exchanged during gatherings. The ultimate goal is to capture the essence of the meeting, recollect significant details, recognize patterns, and derive meaningful conclusions. The meaning is then made visible and accessible to others within the relevant context, fostering a more informed and connected community of participants.

Small group conversations provide a more intimate setting. It is an effective space to go deeper faster and to get to know each other better. Triads allow us to witness each other, to share stories that bring us together, and begin to eliminate assumptions that we might be holding onto.

The concept of Pro Action Café is a blend of ‘World Café' and ‘Open Space’. It is designed as a space for creative and action-oriented conversation where participants are invited to bring their call/ projects/ ideas/ questions or whatever they feel called by and need help to manifest in the world.

As a research method, journaling is a powerful way to learn about the inner workings of people as they document their experiences with a particular product or issue.