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3. Consequence scanning

3. Consequence scanning

Think about potential consequences of a product or service to prioritise your ideas

Last updated on December 17, 2024

What is it good for?

  • Helps you consider the potential impact of your idea on people and the planet
  • Helps you check that the idea aligns with your organisation's values and culture

When to use it

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When you have narrowed your ideas down to 1 or 2 using the prioritisation grid. Before you start to test your ideas with users.

Get the tool

Check out DotEveryone's resource to help with Consequence Scanning:

Consequence Scanning - an agile practice for responsible innovators
Introducing Consequence Scanning - a new Agile practice that fits within an iterative development cycle. This is a way for organisations to consider the potential consequences of their product or service on people, communities and the planet. This practice is an innovation tool that also provides an opportunity to mitigate or address potential harms or disasters before they happen.
Consequence Scanning - an agile practice for responsible innovators
https://doteveryone.org.uk/project/consequence-scanning/
Consequence Scanning - an agile practice for responsible innovators

How to use it

Consequence scanning helps you evaluate how your idea might impact people and the planet, while ensuring it aligns with your organisation's values and culture.

This process addresses three essential questions:

  1. What are the intended and unintended consequences of this service, product or feature?
  1. What positive consequences should we emphasise?
  1. What negative consequences should we mitigate?

The tool above, by DotEveryone, has a whole set of resources that will guide you through setting up and running a workshop to explore this topic.