Module 3. Indicator Design

This page gives a step by step guide for using the outputs from Module 2 (Data Analysis) to create a unique set of Community Cornerstone Indicators.

Introduction

This Playbook provides an illustrated guide for transforming the outputs of the Data Analysis (Module 2) into a set of contextual Community Cornerstone Indicators.

Aims and outputs

The aim of this module is to develop 4-6 Cornerstone Indicators. Although the number is a guide rather than a fixed requirement, we have found that having more or less will make it more difficult to engage people fully with indicators. The specific outputs from this module are as follows:

A thematic wheel that visualises your headline themes and factors;
A set of narratives that encapsulate the thematic outcomes (i.e. narratives of success for your unique community);
A set of appealing visual images that represent the narratives;
A complete set of Cornerstone Indicators.

Process

The following process steps are designed to be used in conjunction with the Indicator Design Template Template. However, if you prefer to do this manually you can also follow the steps using post-it notes or cards and place them on a physical board.

If you are using the Miro Indicator Design Template then please do the following:
- Open the template in Miro.
- Click on the three dots next to the Title on the top left hand side of the board. Select Board and then Make a copy

Step 1: creating a card game

The first step is to convert the outputs from the final tab of the Data Analysis Template into a ‘pack of cards’. An analogy could be to think of a deck of playing cards where the suits i.e. clubs (♣), diamonds (♦), hearts (♥) and spades (♠) are the headline themes, the face cards (king, queen, jack, ace) are the factors and the ranks (1,2,3......) are the metrics. The important thing is that the cards for each headline theme, with its associated factors and metrics, are colour coded.

Pull up the final worksheet from the Data Analysis Template Outputs which is shown below for reference.

Go to Step 1 on Indicator Design Template Miro Board. You will see a pre-populated set of cards.
For each Headline Theme pick a set of coloured cards and label the themes, factors and metrics. For example, the Headline Theme 1 in column B could take the yellow cards and the associated factors and metrics in column B would also be yellow.
Make 3 copies of the full card set from the previous step and place them below the line in the same section of the board. To do this use your cursor to select the cards and click on the duplicate button (+sign in a square).

Step 2: Assembly

2a Choose an outer wheel to work with

The next step is to choose a wheel from the Wheel Templates on the left hand side of the board. We have included a selection of wheels that include varied numbers of headline themes (each colour represents a different theme). Choose a wheel that corresponds to the number of headline themes that you identified in your analysis.
Copy the selected wheel and place one wheel in each of the boxes labelled Method 1, Method 2, Method 3.

2b Choose a clustering methodology

We cannot over stress that there is no single ‘right’ way to build your Cornerstone Indicators. We have experimented with multiple methodologies for this next step and have detailed the three that we have found most intuitive.

Use the first row of cards that you copied below the line in Step 1.
Choose one of the 3 methodologies listed below to start. We suggest experimenting with creating a single indicator for each methodology using the Boards labelled Method 1, Method 2, Method 3:
- Outside-In Factors: with this method, you place a selection of mixed colour factors around a wheel and think of a narrative to link them together.
- Outside-In Metrics: here you place a selection of mixed colour metrics (representing a spread of factors) around a wheel and think of a narrative to link them together.
- Inside-Out: in this method you will first think of possible narratives for your indicators and then see how many factors they represent.

2c cluster sets of cards into mixed groups

In this step you will take a full set of cards and use one of the methodologies you have been experimenting with to cluster the individual cards around 4 to 6 indicator wheels. Whichever methodology you choose, the critical point is that you should use it to place every card from the set onto a section of the Cluster Board.
- Outside-In Factors: without reading the individual labels, spread the factor cards evenly between 4-8 groups, making sure that you have an even spread of colours between the groups.
- Outside-In Metrics: without reading the individual labels, spread the metrics cards evenly between 4-8 groups, making sure that you have an even spread of colours between the groups.
- Inside-Out: In this case you will set up 4-8 blank spaces and leave the cards in their set for now. Move onto the next step (2.4 - Developing your narratives)

Step 3: Developing your narratives

In this step you will think of relatable and appealing narratives that capture multiple factors and critically span as many headline themes as possible. This can feel a bit difficult at first but gets easier as you practice.

Using the wheels that you set up in Step 2, try to think of one narrative for each wheel and write it in the middle.
The aim is to find stories that connect multiple data points, yet remain easy to understand and discuss. An example might be “the number of people in the community who feel their neighbourhood would be a welcoming place for a refugee” or “the number of people who enjoy not owning a car”.
If you have chosen the Outside-In Method to start with and are finding it hard to get going, you can try switching to the Inside-Out Method (and vice versa).

If you are struggling to think of narratives then ChatGPT can help to suggest ideas. We have experimented with using it in this step and found the suggestions to be quite mixed. However, it can help to stimulate ideas that can then be adjusted to your context.

ChatGPT prompt to Use:

"For the theme [X e.g. 'Environmental Sustainability'] and its factors and dimensions, can you suggest specific indicators that measure progress or conditions? Please provide examples that are actionable and measurable."

Step 4: narrative validation

The next step is to check if your narratives actually represent a good spread of themes and factors (and their associated metrics). If you end up with a narrative that is skewed towards a certain theme (e.g. Environmental Sustainability) you risk creating indicators that optimise for single point outcomes and so you would want to adjust this.

With the Inside-Out Method, you will need to retrospectively place a full set of cards around your wheels (with the narratives inside) to check if they do in fact represent a good spread.
With the Outside-In Method, look at the individual cards and mark any that are not represented. It may be possible to redistribute some of the mismatched cards but please make sure that you still end up with a good spread of colours across the indicators.
Ideally you want each factor to be represented by your final set of indicators. If there are any orphaned factors then you need to flag them so that this is made explicit when the indicators are shared with the community.
Tag each indicator with the number of factors that it represents using the red dots.

Step 5: community validation

The next step is to check how the narratives land with your community. There is no point having a narrative that successfully combines the perfect spread of factors if nobody relates to it.

We suggest sharing a proposed set of narratives with representatives from your community at this stage for feedback. For example, is there anything that doesn’t ring true? Do any of the narratives come across as offensive or jarring? Are there any misunderstandings of the context coming through?
After integrating feedback from the community, select a final set of 4-6 indicators to take through to the final step

Step 6: image generation

In this step the aim is to create appealing visuals that allow people to get a snapshot impression of the narrative in each indicator. If you have artists in your community then you might like to ask them to help sketch these images. We wanted this step to be accessible to anyone so have detailed a suggestion for using creative Ai to generate images based on prompts. We used Midjourney to complete this step in the Canadian Cornerstone Community Initiative as a way of testing the process.

Copy your final 4-6 selected indicators from Step 5 onto the board.
Think of possible images that could represent your narratives. You can draw a quick sketch or describe them using words. Simplicity is an important consideration here as the idea is for someone to quickly form an impression of what is happening in the image rather than needing to study the detail.
Go to https://www.midjourney.com/home and create an account.
Based on the sketches and/or descriptions you can create prompts for Midjourney to use. Please adjust the text in red below to represent your first indicator:
2 houses, terrace, one house with a person holding baby, one house with an old person, flat illustration style, line style, geometric, commercial style illustration, line illustration, black and white --stylize 0
Copy/post the prompt into Midjourney to generate your image.

Step 7: creating the final illustrated indicators

In this step, you will put everything together to create your full indicators.

Place an empty wheel into the board labelled Final Indicator 1.
Add the associated image to the centre of the wheel.
Copy the full narrative into the box that says ‘full indicator description beneath’.
Think of a short, 2-3 word name, for your indicator to make it easier to reference e.g. “Future Hopes” as a shortcut for “people who would look forward to retiring or starting a family in the area’.
Repeat the above steps for each of your final indicators.

Step 8 (optional): creating a record of the metrics that sit behind your final indicators

In this optional step you will create a record of all the existing metrics that your final Cornerstone Indicators correlate to. The point here is to create a point of reference rather than to add an administrative task. In some cases, you might want to track the individual metrics as well as the overall indicator but this is not a requirement.

Add your final indicator to the top section of the table.
Add the associated metrics. You can find these by looking at the factors represented by each indicator and referring back to the card set in Step 1.

We would be delighted to publish your indicators on the Cornerstone Indicators Website as part of building and sharing a global community. We would also welcome feedback on the process and any suggestions for improvement.

If you would like to do this then please email us at cornerstone@darkmatterlabs.org.

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Last updated 20 days ago