This is a hands-on reference guide for media development practitioners.
It is based on principles and practices of design research that have been long used by the private sector, and grounded in the experience Reboot has gathered in designing and implementing international development projects around the world.
This guide was born out of a collaboration between Reboot and Internews, through its Center for Innovation and Learning, and its Pakistan Country Office. Together, we sought to understand the complexity of the information ecosystem in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) region of Pakistan. Our ultimate goal was to design contextually appropriate programs that improved access to information by communities in this region.
This resource is our effort to share our process with our Internews colleagues and among the broader media development community, in the hopes that it will inspire practice and discussion and have an impact far beyond our immediate goals.
This is not a comprehensive guide to program design. As a field, media development has a rich history of innovation, thoughtful leadership, and tried-and-true processes — many pioneered by Internews. Indeed, many ideas in here will likely be familiar to readers working in this systems-oriented field. Thus, our hope is that this guide will help practitioners integrate design research principles and practices naturally into their existing work, stretch their creativity, and find new solutions.