The design decision most programs get wrong

It happens before the workplan. Before the budget. Most teams never notice it.

There is a moment in every program design process that most teams rush past.

It happens early, usually in the first planning meeting, when the energy is high and the financing has just come through. Someone opens a laptop, pulls up last year's workplan, and says: "Let's start with what we know works," and just like that, the most important design decision has already been made. Without anyone realizing it was a decision at all.

What gets built when we move too fast

The pressure to move, to start delivering, to justify the finances, is immense.  Therefore, teams design for a version of the target group that is easier to plan around. Willing. Available. Already fluent in the language of the intervention.

Then implementation begins, and teams encounter the reality behind the data. Where they meet the community behind the data and quietly scramble to adjust. They make desperate changes on the go. Later, teams are left wondering why outcomes are different from the original theory of change. This is not a commitment or capacity issue. It is a design one that almost always starts in that first meeting.

What happens when you get it right

We partnered with a non-profit institution that was struggling to foster active participation among young women in advocacy conversations, regarding preventing sexual and gender-based violence. While attendance was consistent, meaningful engagement was low. The team assumed that confidence was the issue and redesigned the sessions to be more interactive and youth-friendly. However, the engagement did not improve.

When they finally paused and asked the young women directly why the conversations felt distant, the answer had little to do with facilitation style. The advocacy language was too technical, framed around policy provisions, legal instruments, and national frameworks, while the young women were navigating everyday realities of safety, relationships, and community norms. 

The design had assumed fluency in policy language. The reality was in lived experience. 

One shift to grounding advocacy in community stories, everyday scenarios, and locally relevant language later deepened participation, and young women began leading parts of the conversation themselves. 

The issue was never a lack of interest. The decision that changed everything was made at the design stage, but it just took them months to see it. 

The practical takeaway

Before your next program begins, set aside one meeting, with this agenda item:

What assumptions are we making about the people we are designing the program for? And how do we know they are true? Write them down. Challenge each one. Have a community member verify the ones that matter most.

That meeting is worth more than any workplan review. It is where the real design happens.

This is what Lusoma prioritizes in every client engagement: to provide the specialized framework and neutral environment that teams often lack within their day-to-day organizational structures. 

If your next program is in the design phase and you want a thinking partner for that conversation, we would love to be in the room.

Reply and let us know where you are in the process. We will take it from there.