Toolkits
Testing Assumptions about your Theory of Change
Testing Assumptions about your Theory of Change
Before developing a prototype, it is important to identify the assumptions that inform the hypotheses at each step along the theory of change. Understanding how critical each step is in the theory of change helps evaluate the time and resources required in those steps. The purpose of naming our assumptions is to prioritize the specific hypothesis to prototype, rather than testing for the entire idea.
What This Means for Social Justice Activists & Designers
Social Justice Activists
Social justice folks tend to miss critical pieces when creating solutions to solve a problem, because they rely on information they’ve long held or have not questioned in some time. Explicitly naming these assumptions provides a needed perspective on the feasibility and urgency of prototyping a specific piece of their solution.
Designers
Walking through each step in the theory of change trajectory naming their assumptions helps social designers better understand how inequity can prevent their stakeholders from moving through the steps. With this new knowledge, they can create more sophisticated prototypes.