Thais Costa
TeamUp MEAL
The TeamUp programme sought to co-create a new MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning) tool that integrates the core values of play and movement, ensuring that children have a greater sense of ownership in the monitoring and evaluation of programme activities. Butterfly Works was approached by TeamUp to apply a design thinking and co-creation methodology in the development of these tools. This collaborative process aimed to actively engage both children and TeamUp staff in the creation, ideation, and design phases, ensuring the tools are not only effective but also reflect the needs and perspectives of all stakeholders involved.
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My Role:
​As project lead, I co-developed participatory MEAL tools the TeamUp program. This was done by guiding and training TeamUp team members to conduct a user research process that involved youth when designing relevant tools. Based on the research findings, I provided recommendations that helped refine the program and enhance its impact, ensuring a participatory, data-driven approach throughout the project.
Company/ partners
Output
Designing a participatory MEAL tool tailored to the needs of TeamUp youth.
Location
Uganda, South Sudan
Date
2021
The design challenge
Our design challenge focused on exploring how to give children greater ownership over the TeamUp methodology through MEAL activities that aligned with TeamUp’s core values of play and movement. To address this challenge, we developed a set of key research questions that guided our process. These included understanding how children from different cultural backgrounds experienced TeamUp, how they improved their psychosocial well-being through the programme, and what games or activities best revealed their feelings. We also sought to understand how TeamUp was adapted to the needs of different target groups, how facilitators effectively collected and documented children’s feedback, and what TeamUp MEAL teams, trainers, and facilitators needed to measure impact and improve the methodology.
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The Design Research phase played a crucial role in identifying challenges, opportunities, and user needs for developing the new MEAL tool. This phase involved reviewing existing resources and conducting interviews with TeamUp team members and specialists in the Netherlands. Additionally, we facilitated a training of trainers for the TeamUp team, equipping them to conduct participatory design research with youth in Uganda and South Sudan.
The outcome
The final delivery included a MEAL tool co-created with TeamUp participants, alongside guidance to help contextualize the tool for use in other countries. This also incorporated additional feedback gathered throughout the process. Key activities involved in the development included sharing insights from co-creation sessions with children in South Sudan, adapting the co-creation script for Uganda, and conducting online training for facilitators. A remote check-in during the co-creations in Uganda provided valuable debriefing, and a visit to a TeamUp session in the Netherlands allowed for further co-creation with children.
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​The co-creation process extended beyond the children to include facilitators in South Sudan, Uganda, and the Netherlands, as well as TeamUp master trainers and MEAL experts. The findings from all these sessions were carefully analysed and processed into a tool for testing. The tool was then tested, and the outcomes of this testing were integrated to refine the final version. The overall process of co-creation, feedback, and testing ensured that the MEAL tool was not only relevant but also adaptable to different cultural contexts and user needs.
Created during design research phase.
Created during design research phase.
Created during design research phase.