WREN: A Deliberative Design Tool supporting Systemic Change
Phillippa Rose and Victoria Betton have developed the WREN wheel as a deliberative tool to aid critical reflection during the design process in response to evolving societal values and paradigm shifts in systemic design. We offer the WREN under a creative commons licence to those involved in design and/or digital transformation to try out the wheel and give us your feedback.
The WREN wheel incorporates the following four lenses:
[W] Workable: This lens incorporates feasibility, capability and durability aspects
[R] Responsible: This lens incorporates purpose, evidence and environmental sustainability
[E] Equitable: This lens is about equity and fairness; diversity and checking bias
[N] Needs-driven: This lens considers the needs of primary users and stakeholders in the ecosystem
These four lenses serve as thematic considerations when reflecting and reviewing an existing service or intervention. WREN can also be used to inform a baseline self-assessment and can be repeated and compared over time, or to aid strategic prioritisation in future state concept development of a new service.
Each lens is broken down into a subset of three areas of consideration to deepen thinking and focus further in a group setting.
WREN has been iteratively developed through use in higher education, the NHS, and charities. It is designed for group completion to foster discussion and alignment on strengths, weaknesses, and areas for development. There are two versions: a universal version applicable to any sector and a specific version for use in healthcare settings.
How to use
The WREN wheel is designed to be completed in a group setting by stakeholders in relation to a specific current state service / intervention or future state concept to help identify strengths, weaknesses and areas for further development.
1.
As a team, pick a service or intervention to reflect on
2.
Fill in the description of the service or challenge
3.
Starting with the Workable lens, work your way around the wheel, discuss and assess the different aspects
4.
Make a note of any reflections and considerations to inform next steps
Note: The centre ring is a low score of 1, and the outer ring is the maximum score of 4.
Downloads
Try the universal WREN wheel by downloading instructions and template below. Please also see further reading on context and background.
