product: investing guide design
design challenge:
GIIN engaged my team at FHI 360 to study the market, understand the needs of different stakeholders and design an Education Impact Investing Strategy Guide for their Navigating Impact Project.
my role:
Lead Designer and Strategist.
key skills: communication, stakeholder management, project management, research, interview, focus group, data analysis & synthesis, facilitation, insights, ideation, design.
client:
Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), think tank based in New York City.
project outcome:
A online guide that outlines different investment strategies in education, key ways to measure social return of investments, and different resources and tools to impact investors around the world.
the process:
discover, design, deliver
discover
getting smart and empathizing:
With the objectives of understanding the market, behavior and needs of different stakeholders, we performed 3 main activities, used different research methods/tools to uncover key information and insights.
secondary research
method/tools: desktop search, industry reports, literature review
result: education impact investing landscape analysis including size of industry, main players and overall trends.
data analysis
method & tools: data mining from Pitchbook investor data platform, Excel data analysis
result: specific descriptive analysis containing main types of initiatives receiving investments, geographies, key investors, amounts and overall returns.
primary research (focus groups and survey)
method & tools: recruited different groups of stakeholders — investors, entrepreneurs and education experts — from LinkedIn and team connections. Conducted four online focus groups, and one survey.
result: nuanced understanding of key challenges, needs and important themes to consider for our final solution.
key insights:
misaligned perceptions of what solutions were needed the most in education was preventing sector growth.
many investors were not sure what to invest in to generate the biggest impact and were choosing “easier solutions”.
disagreements on what to measure/what were good education results was preventing effective impact measurement and reporting.
lack of communication and alignment between education experts, investors and entrepreneurs caused many solutions not to be used or successful in the market.
stakeholders recognized the need for guidance on impact investment in education, and a more centralized way to find resources, support and information about sector needs.
design
data triangulation:
We triangulated information and data from our secondary and primary research, to understand what specific types of solutions were:
(1) being funded the most by investors and entrepreneurs and,
(2) most relevant and needed based on education experts’ knowledge and experience.
We took a 3-step approach:
1.affinity charts
We developed affinity charts and classified main solutions under specific areas. We arrived at six areas or investment themes:
2. survey
We designed and distributed a survey to key strategic stakeholders to rank themes based on social impact and financial return. As anticipated, investors and entrepreneurs focused more on financial return, while education experts provided deeper insights into the potential impact of each theme on the broader sector.
3. prioritization
Based on the survey results, debriefs, and additional conversations with experts, we ranked and prioritized the investment themes as follows:
With the themes established and ranked, we conducted co-design sessions to develop the final investment strategy guide. We structured the document into four main sections per theme and collaborated with education experts to craft the content.
1. Strategy Overview: theme description, importance, existing successful solutions, main gaps and investments in the area.
2. Evidence Map: scientific research supporting investment in that area.
3. Core Metrics: a roster with strategic metrics to track performance and impact in the area, based on GIIN IRIS+
4. Aligned Resources: organizations and stakeholders who could assist with impact performance measurement and other resources.
deliver
We worked with web a team of designers and the guide we created evolved into a website accessible to subscribers. It centralizes key resources to deepen knowledge on each theme, offers broader context on sector needs, and helps investors and social entrepreneurs make more informed impact investment decisions in education.
