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Formative Research Protocol

“A360 gets you to the heart of the community. Instead of respondents coming to you to tell you what they think you want to hear, it’s about going to the community, seeing the world through their eyes based on their first-hand experiences.” — Athumani Haruni, Regional Operations Manager - Rukwa region, TanzaniaWhat is it?

An example of the protocols from A360’s research for design work — in this case, representative of our work in Ethiopia. We used this process in Nigeria as well.

How did we use it?

To ensure ethics review and approval for our research for design work in-country. Our research work generated insights into adolescents’ lives that guided the development of prototypes for supporting adolescent girls to voluntarily access modern contraception. Objectives included:

  • Exploring cultural beliefs that influence adolescent girls’ motivations, emotions, thoughts, and behavior related to contraception
  • Mapping the trajectories of adolescent girls’ sexual and reproductive lives
  • Understanding how key influencers affect young people’s decisions about and engagement with health services
  • Building the capacity of young people in the community to meaningfully engage in research for design
  • Developing empathy and trust between researchers of all ages
  • Advancing our partners’ abilities to meaningfully engage young people in developing programs and services made for them.

Consider using it to:

Serve as a blueprint for formative research for design with youth in similar contexts.