Design Research
Design research underlies the Chroma Collective’s outputs, which include creative design briefs, prototypes, and innovative discussion areas for cross-institutional learning.
Human-centered design relies on behavioral research with users and other key stakeholders. This in-depth research allows designers to understand the complexity and nuance of a challenge, as defined by those closest to it, before building possible solutions. Within the Chroma Collective, design research has focused primarily on Chroma members to understand their lived experiences as gender experts and practitioners, the challenges they face, and where there are opportunities for impactful design solutions.
This human-centered design research helped identify a core set of “Hard Problems” which challenge Chroma members’ gender mainstreaming work. Deeper probing into these problem areas led Chroma toward robust design solutions.
Below is a more detailed description of the behavioral research and design phases that Chroma members used in 2021 and 2022 to zero in on the Hard Problems and then to develop tangible outputs (prototypes).
The Chroma Journey
Chroma Today
As Chroma moves forward, we are focusing on two pillars:
Community of Practice
Chroma provides a safe space for…
Dialogue about gender mainstreaming challenges,
Creative thinking for outside-the-box solutions,
Thought provoking discussions with professionals from analogous fields,
And more!
Collective Power
Chroma leverages the strength of its membership by…
Applying the technical expertise, thought leadership, and social capital of the Collective to influence the broader field of gender in development.
Chroma contributes to the broader gender ecosystem through creating, sharing, speaking, networking, and supporting all, with the goal of advancing gender equality, globally.
Hard Problems
Chroma Collective members shared their experiences about the most persistent challenges they face in their gender mainstreaming efforts. After a series of individual interviews, surveys, and prioritization exercises, the data collected from members were synthesized. Ultimately six “Hard Problems” emerged across member organizations. These Hard Problems were identified as key barriers to the efficacy and impact of gender mainstreaming across member organizations and the broader development sector.
As presented below, Hard Problems are deeply interconnected. Moving the needle on one problem would likely have an effect on others. Therefore, a systems-focused lens is required when designing solutions for these problems.
Deepening Our Understanding of the Hard Problems
As the Chroma Collective prepared for a second design sprint in the early part of 2022, members realized that they needed to go deeper before effectively pinpointing where Chroma would innovate next (and how!). The Collective wanted to understand not just the Hard Problems themselves, but where within these challenges were the most significant barriers (i.e., sticking points) affecting gender mainstreaming. Chroma called these the leverage points for design.
To obtain this deeper synthesis, Chroma Collective members convened in small focus groups based on institution type (i.e., bi-laterals, multi-laterals, development banks, etc). Their feedback was collected based on the “system’s conditions model”, which is a framework for breaking down a system into structural, relational, and mindset conditions. Using this model allowed for a more comprehensive understanding of where within a system the most frustrating barriers to effective gender mainstreaming exist.
The Chroma Collective is not unique in capturing data around gender mainstreaming challenges; however, by going deeper into the analysis and by providing anecdotes that represent the complex experiences of this work, Chroma members were able to move from theory and data to application. The nuance of the data they provided was what made their reported gender mainstreaming barriers tangible and allowed members to uncover details of impactful opportunities for design.
Recent Technical Priorities
Through Chroma, members harness their collective power to advance gender mainstreaming in their institutions and in the development ecosystem more broadly. Chroma’s convening team at Iris Group and IDEO.org collaborated with members to design and develop technical products around two strategic areas of engagement: Gender and the green agenda, and institutional accountability. Products were launched in early 2024 and continue to gain traction. Applying design innovation to members’ expertise, these products contribute to gender equality goals by offering inspiration and tangible solutions to some of development’s most pressing challenges.
1) The gender and green agenda nexus
Given the urgency of climate change and the political and financial commitments to advance the green agenda, the Chroma Collective developed a learning platform to bridge the unnecessary gap between gender and the green agenda. The platform identifies synergies between these two technical areas, highlighting their mutually reinforcing nature. In fact, efforts to promote gender equality and the green agenda should never have been separated in the first place.
Whether one is a green agenda expert with little gender experience, a gender expert with little climate experience, or a generalist with little knowledge of either, the Gender*Green Agenda learning platform can support visitors on their journey by providing inspiration, stories, and resources for going deeper. Watch this short trailer to learn more!
2) Institutional accountability to gender mandates
Never before has it been more critical to fully implement institutional gender mandates—global gender equality depends on it! Yet a number of factors influence whether and how effectively these mandates are carried out at the institutional level . We must consider the mandates themselves and the institutional scaffolding that upholds and enforces these mandates. And all these elements must be measured to understand how well we are performing against our goals.
To respond to this need, the Chroma Collective reviewed current approaches to gender mainstreaming and developed the Building Blocks of Gender Equality. This action framework presents an easy-to-use approach to fully implementing gender mandates within donor and financing institutions, and beyond. Use the action framework to find recommendations about how to better craft and enforce your gender mandate through necessary systems and accountability mechanisms, all to better achieve gender equality outcomes. Watch this short trailer to learn more!