How I work

1. 01

   Step 1: Read the situation

   Start with behaviour in context.

   What are people actually doing? What are they trying to achieve? What constraints shape their decisions? What workarounds have they invented?

   The artefact — a screen, classroom, policy, workflow, or resource — is only part of the situation.

2. 02

   Step 2: Find the mechanism

   Description is necessary but insufficient.

   The more useful question is usually why the observed behaviour occurs.

   The mechanism might involve cognition, incentives, information, physical layout, institutional rules, interaction design, social norms, or several of these at once.

3. 03

   Step 3: Examine the evidence

   Evidence differs in strength and relevance.

   A repeated design convention is not automatically a learning principle. A laboratory finding does not automatically transfer unchanged into a classroom. A successful implementation does not prove that every element caused the result.

   I try to distinguish what is known, what is plausible, what is contextual, and what remains assumption.

4. 04

   Step 4: Make the judgement

   Evidence rarely specifies the design.

   Someone still has to decide what matters under the constraints of the actual situation.

   This is where design becomes judgement rather than compliance.

5. 05

   Step 5: Translate it into form

   A useful idea eventually has to change something.

   Depending on the situation, that might mean:

   • an interface
   • a classroom arrangement
   • a routine
   • a policy
   • a workflow
   • a representation
   • a facilitation structure
   • a guide
   • a decision rule
6. 06

   Step 6: Watch what happens

   Implementation produces new information.

   People reinterpret designs, develop workarounds, encounter constraints that were invisible earlier, and adapt the intervention to their context.

   Those responses are part of the design problem rather than noise around it.

7. 07

   Step 7: Extract what transfers

   The final question is not merely whether something worked.

   It is:

   What did this situation teach us that might improve judgement somewhere else?

   The most valuable output of a project is sometimes not the artefact itself, but a better way of seeing the next problem.

Turn a card over to see what to ask at that step.

1. Step 1 of 701Readthe situationStart with behaviour in context, not with the artefact.What to ask↻01 · ReadAskWhat is happening?For whom?Under what conditions?What appears difficult?What has become normal enough to escape attention?Turn back↺
2. Step 2 of 702Explainthe mechanismAsk why the behaviour occurs, not only what it is.What to ask↻02 · ExplainAskWhy does this behaviour occur?Is it cognition, incentives, information, layout, rules, interaction design or social norms?Is more than one of these at work at once?Turn back↺
3. Step 3 of 703Examinethe evidenceWeigh evidence by its strength and its relevance here.What to ask↻03 · ExamineAskWhat is known?What is plausible?What is contextual?What remains assumption?Does this finding transfer to this setting unchanged?Turn back↺
4. Step 4 of 704Judgeunder constraintDecide what matters under the real constraints.What to ask↻04 · JudgeAskWhat matters most under these constraints?What are we choosing not to optimise?Is this a judgement, or compliance with a rule?Turn back↺
5. Step 5 of 705Translateinto formChange something: a screen, a room, a routine, a rule.What to ask↻05 · TranslateAskWhat has to change for the idea to count?Which form fits: an interface, an arrangement, a routine, a policy, a workflow, a representation, a structure, a guide or a rule?Will that form survive the real constraints?Turn back↺
6. Step 6 of 706Observewhat happensTreat what people do with it as part of the design.What to ask↻06 · ObserveAskHow are people reinterpreting the design?What workarounds have appeared?Which constraints were invisible earlier?How has the intervention been adapted to its context?Turn back↺
7. Step 7 of 707Transferwhat was learnedKeep what will improve judgement somewhere else.What to ask↻07 · TransferAskWhat did this situation teach us that might improve judgement somewhere else?Is the lasting output the artefact, or a better way of seeing the next problem?Turn back↺

1. 01 Read the situation0/5

   • What is happening?
   • For whom?
   • Under what conditions?
   • What appears difficult?
   • What has become normal enough to escape attention?

2. 02 Find the mechanism0/3

   • Why does this behaviour occur?
   • Is it cognition, incentives, information, layout, rules, interaction design or social norms?
   • Is more than one of these at work at once?

3. 03 Examine the evidence0/5

   • What is known?
   • What is plausible?
   • What is contextual?
   • What remains assumption?
   • Does this finding transfer to this setting unchanged?

4. 04 Make the judgement0/3

   • What matters most under these constraints?
   • What are we choosing not to optimise?
   • Is this a judgement, or compliance with a rule?

5. 05 Translate it into form0/3

   • What has to change for the idea to count?
   • Which form fits: an interface, an arrangement, a routine, a policy, a workflow, a representation, a structure, a guide or a rule?
   • Will that form survive the real constraints?

6. 06 Watch what happens0/4

   • How are people reinterpreting the design?
   • What workarounds have appeared?
   • Which constraints were invisible earlier?
   • How has the intervention been adapted to its context?

7. 07 Extract what transfers0/2

   • What did this situation teach us that might improve judgement somewhere else?
   • Is the lasting output the artefact, or a better way of seeing the next problem?