There is no easy answer to this question, which is increasingly being asked by researchers in the Bioversity-CIAT alliance. However, some promising experiences are beginning to emerge around an approach known as human-Centered Design (HCD). In the Alliance, we define this approach as an open, iterative, five-phase process (Fig 1): (i) identifying a research problem or challenge (Scope), (ii) gathering user information (Explore), (iii) designing prototypes (Create ), (iv) evaluating prototypes in pilots with users and stakeholders (Validate), and finally (v) restarting the design cycle based on continuous evaluation that takes place during the scaling phase of the tool or solution (Scale) (Fig 1).
