Design Decisions Guide

Outputs and Deliverables

03

Now it's time to think about what you see as the desired outcome of your investment.

Are you trying to improve a service, such as improving antenatal care for vulnerable women? Have you set out to improve a medical device, such as a pulse oximeter, so that it can be combined with a respiratory rate monitor to result in better diagnoses? Or are you attempting to streamline the paper forms that providers use to track health information? Answers to such questions will determine the form of the final design deliverable you are looking for.

At the same time, it is important to recognize that there may be multiple smaller outputs along the way that can serve as useful tools for strategic decision-making. For example, even in situations where there is a strong foundation of formative research to build on, a good design partner is going to spend some time conducting primary user research directly. The design team is looking for inputs that go beyond the focus of typical formative research and this is a critical way to help them team gain tacit understanding of what users want and need, and eventually be responsive to how they experience the challenges your overall investment is intending to address.

It is also important to keep in mind, that while you may be looking for one final deliverable there are likely many outputs that you will receive along the way. It is rarely a matter of choosing one "right" output, but rather thinking about which set of outputs will come together to provide the guidance you need to eventually arrive at the desired final deliverable.

A series seven colourful jigsaw pieces with texts on them. 1. Collaboration or stakeholder engagement. 2. Design research. 3. Organizational change, framework or strategy. 4. Digital APP or website. 5. Service-based intervention. 6. Branding or communications materials. 7. Physical product