Turning impact research into an open calculation toolkit
Translating stakeholder needs and impact research across people, natural and built environments into data structures, calculation logic and a phased product roadmap.
The challenge
Impact work spans different kinds of evidence across people, the natural environment and the built environment. Turning that research into a toolkit means resolving definitions, data requirements and calculation rules before an interface can make them feel simple.
The product also has to work for its stakeholders. A technically elegant structure is not useful if it asks for unavailable data or hides the assumptions behind an output.
Starting with shared language
I translated stakeholder needs into explicit data structures, calculation logic and success measures. This created a common working model for research, delivery and product decisions.
A phased roadmap separated what needed to be proven early from what could be extended later. That made dependencies visible and reduced the risk of building breadth before the calculation core was coherent.
- Map stakeholder questions to the outputs the toolkit must support.
- Define the minimum data and provenance required for each calculation.
- Make assumptions visible at the point they affect a result.
- Sequence delivery around evidence and dependency, not feature count.
The result so far
The structured workflow has reduced data-preparation time by approximately 30%. More importantly, it provides a clearer route from research evidence to an open calculation tool that people can interrogate and extend.
The work is ongoing. The current value lies in a stronger technical foundation and a delivery plan grounded in the realities of the data and the people who will use it.