Whose way of thinking often defines a complex problem and how to respond?

One group of decision-makers may settle what the problem is and what should be done. We work with brave leaders who can say we do not know everything and believe the answers can be found together with the people closest to the problem. Asking is where our work begins with you.

Work with us

Four ways we can work together.

Social science, service design and our open-source tools are used at each step.

  • Consulting We help your team understand the problem from each group you are interested in learning from. We then test their ideas quickly and at low cost. Here’s an example.
  • Embedded We join your team for the whole project and work beside you. Find here how that might go.
  • The Interviewer Expand your team’s ability to learn from every group experiencing the problem with an automated interviewer. Dig into what that’s like here.
  • Coaching We help your team adapt our social science and service design approach to understand and respond to a problem with our open source tools.

Step one

Your team names the problem.

Government · the starting question

List everything that gets in the way of keeping SNAP and Medicaid.

Asked of clients, front line staff, operations and leadership. We are learning what this group shares, not collecting anyone’s personal details.

Business · the starting question

List everything that gets in the way of doing good engineering work with AI agents.

Asked of engineers, reviewers, product managers and leadership. We are learning what this group shares, not collecting anyone’s personal details.

Philanthropy and Nonprofits · the starting question

List everything that gets in the way of knowing how well the money is used.

Asked of grantees, program officers, finance staff and trustees. We are learning what this group shares, not collecting anyone’s personal details.

Step two

Your team can learn from every stakeholder group.

Everyone you invite clicks one link and answers in about 20 minutes, typing or talking. No personally identifiable information is asked for, except which stakeholder group they are in.

Government · the starting question

List everything that gets in the way of keeping SNAP and Medicaid.

Business · the starting question

List everything that gets in the way of doing good engineering work with AI agents.

Philanthropy and Nonprofits · the starting question

List everything that gets in the way of knowing how well the money is used.

Every interview opens the same way

“I’m a computer. There is no person on the other end. This interview will last about 20 minutes. You can skip any question or end this interview at any time.”

Sample interview

Interviewer

Take them one at a time. What comes first?

Eligibility worker, front line

Notices go to the old address.

Interviewer

Got it. What else?

Eligibility worker, front line

Some of us text families from our own phones, thirty days out. It is not sustainable, but it works.

Sample interview

Interviewer

Take them one at a time. What comes first?

Senior engineer

Checking the agent’s work takes a lot of time.

Interviewer

Got it. What else?

Senior engineer

It invents functions that do not exist. Now I make it tell me what it assumed before I read a line.

Sample interview

Interviewer

Take them one at a time. What comes first?

Program officer

Grantees spend days writing a report that almost nobody uses.

Interviewer

Got it. What else?

Program officer

I ask my grantees for the few numbers I actually use. I fill in the rest with a prefilled form.

Step three

Your team tests what people shared: the workarounds they already use and other insights.

The ideas are theirs: the workarounds they already use and the things they wish for.

Within five days of the last interview we send a presentation and a worksheet, so your team can gut check the learnings and test measurable change.

First The worksheet, where the testing happens

Every idea arrives with the person who raised it, an owner and a date. Here is one row of a sample worksheet.

An eligibility worker told us

“Some of my colleagues text families from their personal phones, thirty days out. It is not sustainable, but it works.”

What they suggested

Sends the same reminder by text a week before the renewal date.

Your team then gut checks the improvement idea with the people it affects. If it passes, your team decides three things: a success metric, a low-cost way to test it within 30 days and who owns the task.

Success metricWhether more families keep both benefits on time
Owns the taskThe state IT department
When byNext renewal cycle
Cost to try itNothing

A senior engineer told us

“Before I read a line of what the agent wrote, I make it tell me what it assumed. That helps me catch the wrong ones.”

What they suggested

Makes that assumptions note a required part of every agent pull request

Your team then gut checks the improvement idea with the people it affects. If it passes, your team decides three things: a success metric, a low-cost way to test it within 30 days and who owns the task.

Success metricIf checking gets faster with fewer bugs reaching users
Owns the taskOne team
When byNext sprint
Cost to try itNothing

A program officer told us

“I tell my grantees to send me the few numbers I actually use. I use a prefilled form to complete the rest.”

What they suggested

Cuts the report down to the fields staff actually use

Your team then gut checks the improvement idea with the people it affects. If it passes, your team decides three things: a success metric, a low-cost way to test it within 30 days and who owns the task.

Success metricWhether grantees get days back without us losing what we need
Owns the taskOne portfolio
When byNext reporting cycle
Cost to try itNothing

Open a worksheet

Second The presentation for the project team

Government · the starting question

List everything that gets in the way of keeping SNAP and Medicaid.

Business · the starting question

List everything that gets in the way of doing good engineering work with AI agents.

Philanthropy and Nonprofits · the starting question

List everything that gets in the way of knowing how well the money is used.

From a sample presentation

Families miss renewal deadlines because notices do not reach them.

What eligibility workers proposed

Sends the same reminder by text a week before the renewal date.

From a sample presentation

Checking the AI agent’s work takes a lot of time.

What senior engineers proposed

Makes that assumptions note a required part of every agent pull request

From a sample presentation

Grantees say they spend days writing it and almost none of it is really used or read.

What program officers proposed

Cuts the report down to the fields staff actually use

Open a presentation

Impact

How we helped.

  • Millionsreached who were using financial products with deceptive design. We worked to reduce harm to them by developing and applying a strategy for regulators to find and fix this practice. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 2023 to 2025.
  • 108weeks of staff time returned every year. Asylum Headquarters, Data Team, 2023.
  • 2languages tested, English and Traditional Chinese, catching translation errors in the redesign of a SNAP (food assistance) program’s website, 2021 to 2022.
  • $100million of planned spending tested against a team’s assumptions first. San Francisco Office of Early Care and Education, 2016 to 2017.
  • $200thousand saved in contracting, alongside a strategy the agency could scale. San Francisco Human Services Agency, 2016 to 2017.
  • 70percent drop in client wait times. San Francisco Human Services Agency, 2015.
  • 20percent more clients onboarded. San Francisco Department of Benefits and Family Support, 2014.
  • 65workdays returned to frontline teams every year. San Francisco Department of Disability and Aging Services, 2014.
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