Examine the evidence
Weigh evidence by its strength and its relevance here.
- 01Readthe situation
- 02Explainthe mechanism
- 03Examinethe evidence
- 04Judgeunder constraint
- 05Translateinto form
- 06Observewhat happens
- 07Transferwhat was learned
Evidence differs in strength and relevance.
A repeated design convention isn’t automatically a learning principle. A laboratory finding doesn’t automatically transfer unchanged into a classroom. A successful implementation doesn’t prove that every element caused the result.
I try to separate what is known, what is plausible, what is contextual and what remains assumption.
Methods
Four methods that help
Each is a card in Riffle, a library of design method cards I built. The card says when to use the method, how to run it and what you get.
Evidence review (opens Riffle in a new tab)
What is already known?
Weeks or more · A small team
Expert interviews (opens Riffle in a new tab)
What do specialists know about this domain that would take us months to learn, and how sure can we be of it?
Under an hour · One person
Assumption mapping (opens Riffle in a new tab)
What are we assuming, and which of those beliefs should we test first?
A few hours · A small team
Hypothesis statement (opens Riffle in a new tab)
What are we assuming, and how will we test it?
Under an hour · A small team