Everything you need to kickstart design research.
Research is the most crucial step in innovation, as it provides an understanding about users’ behaviour and actionable insights anchored in their behaviour, needs and dreams for the future.
Unlike conventional research methodologies, design research amalgamate and curate methods and techniques from the toolboxes of ethnography, anthropology etc. to discover not just insights, but a whole new perspective and fresh ideas which you would never dare to think!
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Communication Strategy for GIZ
Using design research, to develop a communication strategy to promote Sustainable Aquaculture among fish farming communities of India through awareness, capacity building & behaviour change models.
Design Constraints & Objectives
The primary objective of designing a communication strategy was to promote sustainable aquaculture in ponds through improved techniques and better access to resources, targeting the key stakeholders in the complete value chain.
The increased visibility of sustainable aquaculture promoted the use of sustainable food sources, potential jobs, and income from alternative livelihoods and associated the project with BMZ and GIZ. Communication encouraged ownership among partners and beneficiaries to ensure the sustainability of the project.
An operational strategy & implementation plan to promote pond based sustainable aquaculture
An operational roadmap was created by Crossed Design to understand and evaluate the current scenario, practices, and challenges faced around the field of study, and a budgeted communication strategy was developed according to the three types of communication:
Visibility Communication,
Communication for Development, and
Internal Communication.
Operational Strategy & Implementation Plan
• Empathetic Research (Fieldwork) in 7 districts of Assam & 5 Districts of Orisa.
• Interacted with various stakeholders- Govt. officials, Implementation partners, Field Workers, CRPs, and beneficiaries.
• Qualitative data collected through interviews, FGDs, observational study, etc.
• Identified problem areas and gaps.
• Strategic guidelines for communication development.
• Designed key messages, activities, channels, and tools.
• Contextual & cultural constraints factors.
• Interventions for institutional actors & beneficiaries
• Parameter definition for Impact measurement & monitoring.
The Strategy Process Consisted of Five Stages:
Immersion, Empathy, Strategize, Prototype, & Validate
Project Stage Details
Immersion Phase: Introduction to the context of sustainable aquaculture through secondary research on the scenario and challenges of Inland fisheries in India, understanding different stakeholders involved in the aquaculture value chain.
Empathy Phase: The first phase of primary research conducted in districts on Assam and Odisha for qualitative data collection of current aquaculture practices, perceptions, mental models and socio-cultural factors influencing their aquaculture Livelihood
Strategize Phase: Synthesis and sense-making of the data collected from the field through defining user motivations, pain points and bridging gaps with the help of persona maps and strategic directions
Prototype Phase: Ideation and Creation of prototypes, concepts and strategies as derived from the insights of field study
Validate Phase: Second phase of field study which focuses on testing the prototypes among the beneficiaries in Assam and Odisha. The field study validated the feasibility and the effectiveness of the concepts ideated in the previous phase