Diversity and inclusion are fundamental to our approach as both a moral imperative and as a tool for innovation. We adhere to Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA), adopting the PANEL principles in all our work. HRBA broadly and the Leave No One Behind (LNOB) principle specifically are operational through inside-out design. Inside-out design processes involve developing a map of stakeholders, with the hardest-to-reach/most marginalized at the center, and additional project participants organized outwards in concentric circles. Interventions are designed for the central users and expanded outwards allowing us to spot opportunities where we can deliver value by increasing reach without sacrificing depth.
The user map below, developed for an education project created in response to the COVID crisis, is illustrative of the inside-out design process.
At the inside, is the hardest-to-serve population with the greatest need i.e. children in households that are digitally disconnected. The next circle out are those at the digital margins i.e. children in households that have limited connectivity, are unfamiliar with digital tools or otherwise unable to leverage such tools for learning continuity. Finally the outermost circle consists of households with means, access, and skills to leverage such tools. Over this fundamental map, various meditating and intersectional factors such as geography and disability are overlaid. The TMPI toolkit codifies specific techniques and processes that teams can deploy at each stage of the cycle.
The project team uses the map to first identify, then include populations on the inside, in the co-creation process. The primary focus is to identify, prototype and validate viable solutions for the inner most populations i.e. those with the greatest needs. After that the design team then ideates ways that the same solution can be expanded to the outer populations to expand reach without sacrificing depth.
