Learning, Research, and Results Measurement
Discover Uncommon Insights through Creative Research Methods
What if your research and evaluation work went beyond tired surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions to find one-of-a-kind ways of asking questions? And what if these creatively designed research methods – judiciously paired with some traditional methods – uncovered insights and levels of impact that would have remained buried? If this proposition intrigues you, then read on.
“The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house.”
—Audre Lorde
How Can We Help?
Creative, Bespoke Evaluations
We specialize in creative research methods and innovative methodological designs that keep participants more happily involved in the evaluation while yielding rich data that wouldn’t otherwise have surfaced. We rely heavily on narrative and metaphor both as interpretive frameworks for complex social phenomena and as architecture for telling the story of what has happened. We've designed everything from a metaphor-based theory of change, to an imagery-only visioning exercise for semi-literate participants, to "critical moments" timelines for data collection.
MEL Systems
We help teams or organizations design and adopt MEL systems that are easy and fun to use, gather rich data and nurture a culture of creativity. Our MEL work is also power-aware; for example, our study on demand-driven learning suggests that most organizations have more latitude to set the terms of their learning than they think, including through negotiating different terms with donors.
Reflective Dialogue
The difference between an expertly facilitated dialogue and a mediocre one is like the difference between a wilted flower and a vibrant bloom. We have a veritable garden of approaches for facilitating reflective dialogues – visionboarding, critical moments methodology, appreciative inquiry, imitation poetry—to name just a few, to help you make your facilitated dialogues magical and learning-rich.
Research
We take both a deficits and an assets lens in our research. In the former, we help clients uncover systemic drivers and relentlessly follow interesting threads in the data until we find some unique answers. We also use research methods that help uncover often ignored or hidden assets, with a key example being network mapping, an interactive method that showcases human capital and collective impact.
Social Assets and Impact Reports
Stop counting outputs alone (e.g. number of workshops held, quantity of supplies delivered) and let us help you find ways to gauge where change is happening, including through measuring the social assets like trust, local knowledge, and creative assets that often go unmeasured. Then let us find you a format–whether video, data-art, or web–that beautifully conveys your impact story.