Six tenets of tech for good

In our determination to see more and better use of tech for good, we’ve looked to understand what have been the underlying drivers of the massive digital transformation we’ve seen in other parts of our lives. These underlying actions and conditions have enabled an incredible scale of change, and if we’re to create a similar scale of social progress, then we need to ensure the right conditions exist for such development to occur. Of course such change requires passionate entrepreneurs and teams with innovative ideas; of course effective funding and aligned investment and, of course, targeted solutions to real problems. Less ‘of course’ is the importance of — but if we can get the right conditions in place, 2017 can provide that. good timing We’ve discerned that are needed if we want to create something comparable to the huge impact digital has created across other areas of our lives. They’re the underlying conditions that allow us all to practise in a way that can bring massive change. . six things Six tenets for tech for good We’ll look to ensure that each of these elements are built within our activities, partnerships and conversations. If we can all do this — then we’ll really see the acceleration of social impact through digital technology. We’d love to hear your thoughts, challenges and additions to these, and to support them to be developed and practised. Drumroll… Six Tenets of Tech for Good A culture of reuse User led, and test-driven development Creating three strands of value Lean metrics and ongoing testing Smaller problems for bigger solutions Addressing challenges, not suggesting solutions A culture of reuse The history of computing and the giant leaps that it has powered, , asynchronous development and movements of people/organisations working on similar problems and solutions. is a history of collaboration One to add to the reading list From Lovelace and Babbage; Bell Labs and Bletchley Park; through organised cross-sector ; the homebrew hackers of the 1970s and the open source movement — digital innovation has often come about when many people and teams work on similar problems and solutions. This indicates that to see similar advances within tech for good, encouraging/supporting people who appear (at a top level) to be doing the same thing is important — even though that can be difficult in such a resource-constrained environment. research ecosystems However, central to such rapid development is that these innovators reused what had already been created. This is more than ‘ ’ building on previous ideas, this saw the reuse of hardware and code that could provide a shortcut to building solutions more quickly. From to more modern reuses of / this dramatically reduces the cost of early innovation, encouraging more (and wider) exploration. Whether you want a new , ; or even a , there will be code and platforms available that can serve 80% of your needs for low or no cost. standing on the shoulders of giants IBM open-sourcing their operating system tools functionality culture of reuse website online community quiz bot If we could reduce the cost of early stage digital innovations by creating a culture of reuse; if we could increase our confidence in the need for investment by proving demand for new services (having evidenced use with what already exists), then we can begin to create the speed and scale of impact that digital has created in other parts of our lives. Of course, this isn’t just about the digital tools, but the underpinning research too. Sharing, and searching for that which exists, increases the pace of innovation, and the effectiveness of our collective work. See for more on this! our most recent blog to both (whether as , , , etc) but also : searching for, tweaking and testing that which already exists (and giving credit to the work that has gone before). Our challenge: share our products/outputs in reusable formats research APIs open data quick wins , to develop the habits of reuse 2. User led, and test-driven development At the heart of creating effective digital products and services is ensuring that it has ‘product-market fit’. That means the thing being created attracts users in a way that generates income. Startups continually test this fit, changing the product, the language and/or the price until the fit is made. Digital offers a unique way to do this easily, and relatively cheaply — providing cheap digital tools backed up by analytics programs to see how people behave with your new product. Our Fusilier charities take a user led, test-driven approach to everything they create In Fuse we test/talk with five people from day three, and aim to create prototypes to understand people’s behaviour with our ideas as quickly as possible. This test-driven approach continues throughout the three month programme and is baked into ongoing product development — ensuring that the products created meet the choice making and usage behaviours of our audience. This isn’t just about taking a test-driven approach to development but places the users at the heart of development — even more so than many traditional co-design approaches. Whilst we employ many co-design and participatory design techniques, all development within test-driven development responds to user’s actions rather than articulated desires. In this way their ideas, demands and behaviours are central to the work of the professional development team. A lot has been written about test-driven and lean development — but at the heart it is about building confidence in your product/service because of the way people use it. That means getting a product into their hands as quickly as possible, rather than spending too long designing what you think is most needed/wanted. to ensure all products, services and programmes are built around a test-driven and user-led process. Our challenge: 3. Creating three strands of value We’ve written lots (along with the brilliant team at ) about the vital need for every tech for good project/venture to focus on building three types of value: social value; financial value, and user value. Without articulating and developing all of these strands of value, the whole approach will fail — so it’s vital to explore and build each of these values from the start. Shift The ‘triple helix’: Social value, financial value and user value We’ve written about the , and , so settle down with a cuppa and look through it. The key points include recognising that social value will only be achieved when a product/service is created in a way that people actively choose to use it (creating user value); that you’ll need to identify to test (and give you confidence) that these values are being realised — or that they have the potential to be realised, and that each of these value can only be based on their stage of development and stability. theory the practical implications relevant metrics evidenced This is an important focus for funders and founders alike — we need to support innovators to test and develop each of these areas of value, but similarly of what can be achieved through funding. set realistic expectations to work with startups and new projects to build around these three values, and to work with funders, commissioners and investors to implement funding, support and evaluation frameworks that support such growth. Our challenge: 4. Lean metrics and ongoing testing or lean analytics are at the heart of agile development and really significant in tech-led startups. They’re the important measurement-step that links ‘learning’ and ‘building’ in the famous . Lean metrics build-measure-learn cycle Iterate your way from small short-term steps to big long-term impact, measuring as you go What’s really crucial here is that there’s an established methodology for seeing short term development within a long term aspiration (such as creating a huge impact tech company). Building on this methodology makes a that we need to realise — and also helps unlock the challenges of creating longer-term social impact by measuring and developing smaller steps towards it. valuable approach to development across each of the three values This helps ensure development is constantly evolving and focused on improvement, but also helps identify realistic expectations for collaborations with funders and investors. to build all of our approaches using lean metrics, and to work with tech for good organisations to implement and support similar approaches — creating a shared (and language) that is honest, justified and evidenced. Our challenge: measurement framework 5. Smaller problems for bigger solutions Last year we published a brief article about one particular benefit of digital approaches, that of . The core argument there is that tech for good requires big problems to be very specifically described in order for a digital solution to be created. Consider how Google returns the search result ‘most relevant’ to you. If you searched for ‘local news’ — then each of those terms has to be defined very specifically: what local means to you, what counts as news. trumpets, not trombones In analogue vs. digital, the trumpet wins In our sector we mostly focus on — those that are big, challenging, hard to understand and address. Yet a digital approach pushes us to continually rethink and rearticulate the challenge in a way that helps creates specific solutions. , , and test-driven development can all help with this, but digital approaches require a reframing and re-articulation of the problem which creates new ways of addressing them. Over time we can address lots of specific problems, rather than chasing a few big ones that can’t be overcome. wicked problems Sensing making user research to continue to be specific and focused on where digital can make a big difference, and to work tirelessly to bring that value about. Being honest about where digital has no, or limited role, and ensuring we bring multi-talented/disciplinary teams to focus on identifying and addressing important problems. Our challenge: 6. Addressing challenges, not suggesting solutions We’ve such expertise and experience within social organisations, it’s easy to see why so many new ideas, approaches and solutions are identified and developed each year. However, an important lesson from tech development is that we’re not *that* good at judging customer/user requirements, and that we need to separate our beliefs/expectations from people’s actual choice making and behaviours. Solutionising is not just a social sector problem! This returns to the ‘product-market fit’ (noted in point two) where tech ventures can quickly and easily test user’s behaviour with their ideas before developing the most in-demand parts. If we can find a method to test our solutions, and to be prepared to change them — quickly — based on the behaviours and choices of our ‘audience’, then we can really begin to address big social challenges. The digital community takes such an approach using approaches to ensuring the best product/service. If we can develop similar approaches, then over time we can really address big social challenges, not by following our initial solutions, but by following a test-driven methodology to addressing challenges. lean and agile This is more than a challenge for charities/ventures to adopt test-driven approaches. It requires funders to support organisation to address challenges, rather than to deliver solutions. This means being comfortable that solutions/interventions will change based on feedback/user-testing; being comfortable that the solution might change considerably from the original expectation. This doesn’t mean funding open explorations, but to use a tested methodology to find (and then deliver) the right solution. It might seem more open — even more risky — but it enables a better targeted solution to be found and created. supporting trusted organisations to continue to use a test-driven approach to addressing challenges. To work with funders, investors and social organisations to understand and implement trusted methodologies to rigorously find the right solutions to big social challenges — taking into account the accountability and reporting differences that this may bring. Our challenge: Here it is again, but bigger and more colourful :) . Each of them big and important — but together they create the undercurrent to power a wave of digital innovation that can have a huge impact on the social challenges facing individuals and our communities. If we can create this undercurrent, then the scale of that impact can be as big, and as transformative, as we have seen in so many other areas of our lives. Six things Just imagine the possibilities if we can really create such a change. These six tenets are the parts which shift that imagining into a focus for 2017.