Ideas, planning and service design
Design a Path to Outcomes
Bring purpose, practices and short- and medium-term outcomes into one pathway, explicitly identifying links that lack evidence.
- People
- 4–15
- Session time
- 330 minutes
- Format
- In person
English session plan
Original program status: draft. Source safety category: Medium; this is not a guarantee of safety.
Preparation: High preparation. Facilitation team: Four roles, including an experienced facilitator.
What this session can decide
Create outcome pathways and hypotheses to test. Do not guarantee achievement of outcomes, causation or the effects of expenditure.
Outside its scope
- Do not call activity counts outcomes.
- Do not assert causal relationships as established.
- Do not define outcomes solely from funders’ expectations.
Primary caution: Do not call activity counts outcomes.
Before starting
- Question and scope
- Bring purpose, practices and short- and medium-term outcomes into one pathway, explicitly identifying links that lack evidence. Before the session starts, state the subject and period to be covered in one sentence.
- What is decided here
- Create outcome pathways and hypotheses to test. Do not guarantee achievement of outcomes, causation or the effects of expenditure.
- Output recipient
- At the end, the Recorder retains “Hypotheses, evidence and checking plan”. Show the assumptions to check before measurement and who is responsible.
- Participation and information boundaries
- Explain that people may pass, rest or leave, and keep personal information, confidential information and judgements about attributes off the recording surface. Assign Participant support separately.
- Operating team
- Assign the Lead facilitator, Recorder, Timekeeper and Participant support before starting, and confirm who announces transitions and stops.
- Next check
- Decide the review date for “Hypotheses, evidence and checking plan”, who may view it and who is responsible for the next decision.
Who takes responsibility
- Lead facilitator
Keep “Design a Path to Outcomes” within its purpose and stated exclusions, and announce the start and end of each stage.
From before the start until the session ends.
- Recorder
Record “Map linking activities to outcomes”, “Design of purpose, principles and practices”, “Hypotheses, evidence and checking plan” at each stage and hand the records to their recipients at the end.
From preparation of recording surfaces before the start through storage after the session.
- Timekeeper
Notify the Lead facilitator 3 minutes before each stage ends and when switching to breaks or buffer time.
At the start of every stage and 3 minutes before its end.
- Participant support
Receive requests to pass, rest, leave or check individually, and decide with the Lead facilitator whether resumption is possible.
From before the start until the session ends.
Session flow
Minutes are measured from the session start. Method time, transition time, breaks and buffer are shown separately; they are not additional overlapping activities.
0–123 minutes
Map outcomes and changes among stakeholders
Method: Outcome Mapping · 0–120 minutes. Transition: 120–123 minutes (3 minutes).
Identify the target group, stakeholders who influence outcomes and desired behavioural changes. Link activities, short-term changes and medium-term outcomes with arrows, and place external factors in a separate area.
Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Participant support
Output: Map linking activities to outcomes
Handoff: Pass important practices and assumptions on the pathway to purpose design.
This stage may be shortened only in accordance with the stated conditions.
123–246 minutes
Check alignment between purpose and practices
Method: Purpose to Practice · 123–243 minutes. Transition: 243–246 minutes (3 minutes).
Define purpose, principles, participants, session rules, roles, time allocation and practices in order. Find practices that conflict with the pathway map and revise them so they contribute to the purpose.
Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Participant support
Output: Design of purpose, principles and practices
Handoff: Pass important assumptions for each practice to the stage that checks links with insufficient evidence.
This stage is not marked as shortenable.
256–289 minutes
Identify evidence gaps in the outcome pathway
Method: Evidence Gap Board · 256–286 minutes. Transition: 286–289 minutes (3 minutes).
Check the evidence needed for each arrow in the pathway. Classify it as known, assumed or unknown; for unknowns, set a checking method, responsible person and deadline.
Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Participant support
Output: Hypotheses, evidence and checking plan
Handoff: Pass the map linking activities to outcomes and the checking plan to the person responsible for the programme and the evaluator.
This stage is not marked as shortenable.
What is retained and who receives it
Map linking activities to outcomes
Owner: Recorder
Make hypotheses linking activities to desired changes visible.
Design of purpose, principles and practices
Owner: Recorder
Add the participants and conditions for practice needed in the pathway map.
Hypotheses, evidence and checking plan
Owner: Recorder
Show the assumptions to check before measurement and who is responsible.
Materials and setup
Material names, quantities, groups and handling instructions retain the fixed draft's original helper-derived guidance. Where a format is marked “Source material specification”, the entire bound English source material entry takes precedence over the old helper-derived format guidance. This format-only correction does not resolve other instruction or safety concerns. English names are not substituted into a Japanese-keyed lookup.
Everyday tools
- Sticky notes
Quantity: About 20 per person
Format: Sticky notes around 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into four pieces.
Write “Expected effects” or “Obstacles” at the top of each sticky note or paper piece. Two colours are not required: distinguish them by written headings even when the colour is the same.
- Voting stickers
Quantity: 3 per person
Format: Pen marks. Use round stickers only if anonymity or movement is needed.
Use pen marks by default. Divide round stickers by participant count only if repositioning or anonymous collection is needed.
- Broad-tip writing tools
Quantity: 1 per person
Format: Dark broad-tip pens or whiteboard markers
Check that the ink flows and place the pens where participants can reach them. Avoid pale-coloured pens.
- Pens
Quantity: 1 per person
Format: Dark broad-tip pens or whiteboard markers
Check that the ink flows and place the pens where participants can reach them. Avoid pale-coloured pens.
- Judgement-item sticky notes
Quantity: 4 per person
Format: Sticky notes around 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into four pieces.
Do not buy specialised notes. Write “Judgement item” at the top of each paper slip. If participants write on them, use one item per slip and handwrite the necessary headings before the session starts.
- Pens
Quantity: 1 per person
Format: Dark broad-tip pens or whiteboard markers
Check that the ink flows and place the pens where participants can reach them. Avoid pale-coloured pens.
Sheets to prepare by hand
- Pathway diagram from goals to next actions
Quantity: 1 sheet
Format: Large-format paper or a whiteboard
Divide the work surface into 4 fields: “Goal”, “Expected effects”, “Obstacles” and “Next action”. Do not rely on colour alone; write each field heading in words. If using large-format paper, join it horizontally into a long work surface read from left to right.
- Sheet linking purpose, principles, participants, facilitation structure, and practices
Quantity: 1 sheet per group
Format: A4 copy paper
Divide the work surface into 5 fields: Purpose, Principles, Participants, Facilitation structure, and Practices. Write headings in text rather than relying only on colour.
- Element cards
Quantity: 10 per person
Format: Sticky notes around 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into four pieces.
Write Element at the top with a Reason field below. Leave room for one item per card.
- Strips marking broken connections
Quantity: 5 per group
Format: Masking tape or A4 copy paper cut into long, narrow strips
On a long strip, write the two unconnected elements, such as Purpose → Principles. Place it between the five elements, leaving room to add which side to revise. Do not buy special strips. Also write which two adjacent elements are unconnected on the strip.
- Revision cards
Quantity: 3 per group
Format: Sticky notes around 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into four pieces.
Create Before change and After fields on one sheet. Write headings in text rather than relying only on colour.
- Practice cards
Quantity: 2 per group
Format: Sticky notes around 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into four pieces.
Create Owner, Start, and Review fields on one sheet. Write headings in text rather than relying only on colour.
- Table for checking evidence gaps
Quantity: 1 sheet per group plus 1 for whole-group consolidation
Format: Source material specification: A3 evidence-gap boards: one per group and one for whole-group consolidation
Source-bound format display correction; the other fixed helper-derived guidance is unchanged.
For each claim to check, create fields headed “What is known”, “Missing evidence”, “Where to check” and “Deadline”.
- Evidence-type cards
Quantity: 4 per group
Format: Sticky notes around 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into four pieces.
Do not buy specialised cards. Write “Evidence type” at the top of each paper slip. If participants write on them, use one item per slip and handwrite the necessary headings before the session starts.
Setup for each method
Outcome Mapping
- One wall surface at least 3 m long for the whole-group route map
- One island table per group of 3–5, with participants distributed evenly
Purpose to Practice
- Form groups of 3–5 whose sizes differ by no more than 1 person
- Give each group one five-element connection sheet and five inconsistency strips
- One whole-group connection surface for displaying all groups' practice slips
Evidence Gap Board
- One surface per group with existing evidence and missing evidence side by side, without a dividing line
- Space outside each group’s surface for items not needed this time, equal to 30% of that surface
- One wall surface for ordering gaps by the nearest decision deadline
When to switch or stop
Fallbacks
- The outcome pathway splits into 3 or more routes.
Limit the work to the pathway for one main target group and keep the others as separate alternatives.
Method guide: Outcome Mapping
Stop conditions
- Outcomes are defined only by participant counts or numbers of activities delivered.
- Rewrite them as changes in the target group’s behaviour or state.
- The group attempts to assert medical, legal or individual-assessment causation as established.
- Mark the relevant pathway as unconfirmed and refer it for specialist evaluation.
Sources, rights and limits
This site has composed this programme’s purpose, method sequence, delivery instructions, roles, outputs and switching conditions. See each individual method page for that method’s sources and licences.
Original source records and their required notices are retained below. Their presence does not mean a new legal or cultural-safety clearance. Original citation titles are kept in their source language.
Sources and required notices for the 3 methods used
Outcome Mapping
- Steve Pereira: Outcome Mapping — CC BY 4.0 adaptation; changes made
- CC BY 4.0
- Source: Steve Pereira: Outcome Mapping | https://openpracticelibrary.com/practice/outcome-mapping/ | CC BY 4.0 adaptation; changes made
- Source: CC BY 4.0 | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
- Attribution: Steve Pereira | Author/contributor credit from the original material
- Attribution: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team | Japanese adaptation and this site’s original illustrations
- Changes and adaptation: Adapted with changes as Japanese facilitation scores
- Cultural caution: open-method screening complete: Closed, ritual or sacred cultural practices are not used as sources; opting out, sensitive information and power differences are addressed in each method’s limits and branches.
- Limits of this record: Individual contributors are credited. Text covered by CC BY 4.0 was adapted with changes into Japanese facilitation scores. Exception notices, the site logo and third-party embedded material were excluded.
Purpose to Practice
- Liberating Structures Fieldbook (2026): Purpose to Practice — Henri Lipmanowicz / Keith McCandless / Nancy White — CC BY-SA 4.0 adaptation; changes made
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Source: Liberating Structures Fieldbook (2026): Purpose to Practice — Henri Lipmanowicz / Keith McCandless / Nancy White | https://www.liberatingstructures.com/purpose-to-practice | Adaptation under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes made
- Source: CC BY-SA 4.0 | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
- Attribution: Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless; Keith McCandless and Nancy White | Author/contributor credit from the original material
- Attribution: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team | Japanese adaptation and this site’s original illustrations
- Changes and adaptation: Adapted with changes as Japanese facilitation scores
- ShareAlike: Provided under CC-BY-SA-4.0
- Cultural caution: open-method screening complete: Closed, ritual or sacred cultural practices are not used as sources; opting out, sensitive information and power differences are addressed in each method’s limits and branches.
- Limits of this record: Adapted with changes into Japanese facilitation scores under CC BY-SA 4.0 and provided under the same licence. Only the current pages are covered; materials dating from June 2026 or earlier, official icons and third-party material were excluded.
Evidence Gap Board
- 対話の譜面編集部: 根拠の穴板 — Original description and diagrams
- Source: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team: Evidence Gap Board | Original description and diagrams
- Attribution: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team | This site’s text and illustrations
- Cultural caution: open-method screening complete: Closed, ritual or sacred cultural practices are not used as sources; opting out, sensitive information and power differences are addressed in each method’s limits and branches.
- Limits of this record: The editorial team independently created the text, procedures and diagrams. It claims no exclusive rights over general dialogue operations or ideas themselves.
Japanese resources and historical source records
Original Japanese plan and its print view · Japanese operation pack or starter materials
An English print edition is not provided here. The linked plans, print views and operation materials are Japanese resources.
Historical recorded publication holds
The following original hold statements are retained verbatim with their fixed source versions. They are not a statement of current acceptance, nor does this historical label resolve a source-specific restriction.
- English translation and rendered-page independent acceptance pending
- Method dependency source/text SHA binding and current source-specific rights verification pending
- Publication not cleared
Historical fixed-source and English-draft provenance
Japanese program SHA-256: e04a13edfa5ee6867aab410f46923b675d1d539b5ed2a1b42efb44eeb8bc3406
Fixed source context SHA-256: 058c627ce9aee686cc1b7b18c0ec8a20cedd04d7f9c8260c674cedb541b03ede
English draft SHA-256: c5156fa8dc54b47a2a0d0b760f2406cebbeed471cee3526ad8320d84ac869601
- evidence-gap-board: source
cbe2a27c52d07b23fd8ae8ddf3b3d92114d87e47517fe8e4ab42065d2d9d84c2; English draft5a1833dab9ac30e20a7c777de6b1bab2b129d7eabe826a747703a4f451b15977 - opl-outcome-mapping: source
695569543f45d362b4122ca578e59c70967752284278c7ebeb3938753417fc6e; English draft14b5af0ad88e28aec4e8c005b4d4d4f7a6c079b364771dbae34611de69cff19d - purpose-to-practice: source
0b6ee5f8c38ee4b0d5cb9e539a91fc2e3f3cb71461066c1de13f80c34ef224f2; English draft4f967ab55c16f88327cd5d6c288f01b52d3012e9e7bfe8ac0921117f96210741
These hashes identify the checked inputs; they do not grant independent acceptance or publication clearance.