Intelligent,
research-informed design methods for complex development contexts.
Development programmes today operate under rising expectations and complexity.
Design quality matters more than ever to achieve programme performance.
Many well-funded programmes
struggle with friction between donor logics, market incentives,
technical plans and local realities.
This friction undermines impact and increases delivery risk.
BY DESIGN. works in development contexts where everyday livelihood decisions, incentives, and institutional demands pull in different directions.
Contexts where BY DESIGN. methods are most often applied:
- Commercial forestry and timber value chains
- Community forestry, carbon finance, and nature-based solutions
- Producer organisations and market linkages
- SME and enterprise development in informal economies
- Donor-funded programme design and adaptation
BY DESIGN. helps organisations surface and resolve the hidden design blind spots that cause technically sound development programmes to underperform in complex, informal systems.
BY DESIGN. methods are grounded in
25 years of practice in sub-Saharan Africa,
and ongoing doctoral research into design methods for wicked problems.
Your programme is logical. Participants' behaviour is logical.
So why don't they line up?