The terminology of project design is, frankly, a bit of a shambles. Different disciplines use different terms and most of them are life-drainingly dull and managerial. The most frequently used terms “inputs, outputs, and outcomes (immediate, intermediate or long-term)” are hardly very evocative or self-explantory.
Consequently I’ve generated some more colourful and meaningful terms, which I’ve used in Changeology workshops for a few years now. I hope they bring a little light to the process of project design.
Here they below, with definitions:
A full sized PDF is at www.enablingchange.com.au/Language_of_project_design.pdf
[BTW, notice the different positions of “actions” and “behaviours”. These often get mixed up, but there’s an important difference. “Actions” are simple, easy, immediate things that people can do without a lot of investment, like coming to a meeting, making a donation, or signing up. “Behaviours” are longer-term propositions about people adopting new practices in their lives, businesses, farms or families, and sustaining them into the future.]
Outcomes, objectives, blah blah…
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