Developmental Evaluation: The Promise, The Pitfalls
Developmental Evaluation (DE) offers immense potential for those working in product and service design, aiming to weave innovation’s design, data, and strategy. It systematically and structurally focuses on the innovation process, outputs and outcomes, linking all to their intended effects. The allure of DE, however, can be deceiving, and there are pitfalls for the unwary.
At its core, DE is about harmonizing design with data and strategy. It embeds within the innovation process, offering evidence-backed insights from ideation to execution. This information can guide when to amplify efforts, shift directions, or abandon a chosen path altogether.
For “Star Wars” enthusiasts, think of the famous line from Admiral Ackbar, “It’s a Trap!” : DE is fraught with potential issues. Michael Quinn Patton, among others, crafted DE to cater to social innovations dealing with volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous scenarios. The goal was to offer actionable data in such contexts without merely trying to “do the wrong thing righter.”
Pitfalls on the Way to Promise
Several pitfalls have been observed in organizations embracing DE:
- Misguided Resourcing: It’s erroneous to treat DE like any other evaluation. DE often demands more resources, primarily…
