John Roberto, LifelongFaith Associates (jroberto @ lifelongfaith.com)

John Roberto, LifelongFaith Associates([email protected])

Designing 21st Century Faith FormationDiocese of Orange

Innovation Design ProcessStanford School of Design

Empathize Define Ideate Prototyp

e Test

Design Process for an New InitiativeSelect a Target

Group (or need)

Research(Empathize)

Defined Spiritual & Religious Needs,

Concerns & Interests

Generate IdeasCreate Prototypes to Pilot

Test the Prototypes

Evaluate, Improve, & Expand the

Innovation

1 - EmpathizeEmpathy is the foundation of a human-centered design process. To empathize, we:

Observe. View users and their behavior in the context of their lives.

Engage. Interact with and interview users through both scheduled and short ‘intercept’ encounters.

Immerse. Experience what your user experiences.

Empathy MapSAY

What do you hear your target group saying?

DOWhat actions and

behaviors do you notice in your target group?

THINKWhat might your target

group be thinking? What does this tell you about

their beliefs/convictions?

FEELWhat emotions might your

target group be feeling?

Empathy Map1. Define Needs (verbs not nouns)

2. Identify Insights – to better respond to a design challenge

POV – Point of View A point of view (POV) is your reframing of a design

challenge into an actionable problem statement that will launch you into a generative ideation.

A good POV will allow you to ideate in a directed manner, by creating How We Might (HWM) questions based on your POV.

Most of all your POV captures your design vision.

POV – Point of ViewA POV MADLIB

[USER] needs to [USER’S NEED] because

[SURPRISING INSIGHT]

2 - Define The define mode is when you unpack and

synthesize your empathy findings into compelling needs and insights, and scope a specific and meaningful challenge. It is a mode of “focus” rather than “flaring.”

Two goals of the define mode are to develop a deep understanding of your users and the design space and, based on that understanding, to come up with an actionable problem statement: your point of view.

2 - Define Your point of view should be a guiding statement

that focuses on specific users, and insights and needs that you uncovered during the empathize mode.

More than simply defining the problem to work on, your point of view is your unique design vision that you crafted based on your discoveries during your empathy work. Understanding the meaningful challenge to address and the insights that you can leverage in your design work is fundamental to creating a successful solution.

2 – Define In order to be truly generative, you must first craft a specific and compelling problem statement to use as a solution-generation springboard. As a test, a good point of view (POV) is one that:

1. Provides focus and frames the problem2. Inspires your team3. Provides a reference for evaluating competing ideas4. Fuels brainstorms by suggesting “how might we” statements5. Captures the hearts and minds of people you meet6. Saves you from the impossible task of developing concepts

that are all things to all people7. Is something you revisit and reformulate as you learn by

doing8. Guides your innovation efforts

3 - Ideate Ideate is the mode during your design process in

which you focus on idea generation. Mentally it represents a process of “going wide” in

terms of concepts and outcomes—it is a mode of “flaring” rather than “focus.”

The goal of ideation is to explore a wide solution space – both a large quantity of ideas and a diversity among those ideas. From this vast depository of ideas you can build prototypes to test with users.

You ideate in order to transition from identifying problems into exploring solutions for your users.

Generating Ideas: Mindmapping

How Might We?“How might we” (HMW) questions are short questions that launch brainstorms. HMWs fall out of your point-of-view statement or design principles as seeds for your ideation. Create a seed that is broad enough that there are a wide range of solutions but narrow enough that the team has some helpful boundaries.

For example, between the too narrow “HMW create a cone to eat ice cream without dripping” and the too broad “HMW redesign dessert” might be the properly scoped “HMW redesign ice cream to be more portable.” It should be noted, the the proper scope of the seed will vary with the project and how much progress you have made in your project work.

How Might We? Begin with your Point of View (POV) or problem

statement. Break that larger challenge up into smaller actionable pieces. Look for aspects of the statement to complete the sentence, “How might we…”

It is often helpful to brainstorm the HMW questions before the solutions brainstorm. For example, consider the following POV and resulting HMW statements.

4 - Prototype Prototyping is getting ideas and explorations out of your head and

into the physical world. A prototype can be anything that takes a physical form – be it a

wall of post-it notes, a role-playing activity, a space, an object, an interface, or even a storyboard. The resolution of your prototype should be commensurate with your progress in your project.

In early explorations keep your prototypes rough and rapid to allow yourself to learn quickly and investigate a lot of different possibilities.

Prototypes are most successful when people (the design team, the user, and others) can experience and interact with them. What you learn from those interactions can help drive deeper empathy, as well as shape successful solutions.

4 - PrototypeTraditionally prototyping is thought of as a way to test functionality. But prototyping is used for manyreasons, including these:

Empathy gaining: Prototyping is a tool to deepen your understanding of the design space and your user, even at a pre-solution phase of your project.

Exploration: Build to think. Develop multiple solution options.

Testing: Create prototypes (and develop the context) to test and refine solutions with users.

Inspiration: Inspire others (teammates, clients, customers, investors) by showing your vision.

4 - PrototypeWe prototype to:

Learn. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a prototype is worth a thousand pictures.

Solve disagreements. Prototyping is a powerful tool that can eliminate ambiguity, assist in ideation, and reduce miscommunication.

Start a conversation. A prototype can be a great way to have a different kind of conversation with users.

Fail quickly and cheaply. Creating quick and dirty prototypes allows you to test a number of ideas without investing a lot of time and money up front.

Manage the solution-building process. Identifying a variable to explore encourages you to break a large problem down into smaller, testable chunks.

5- TestTesting is the chance to refine our solutions and make them better. Prototype as if you know you’re right, but test as if you know you’re wrong.

To refine our prototypes and solutions. Testing informs the next iterations of prototypes. Sometimes this means going back to the drawing board.

To learn more about our user. Testing is another opportunity to build empathy through observation and engagement—it often yields unexpected insights.

To test and refine our POV. Sometimes testing reveals that not only did we not get the solution right, but also that we have failed to frame the problem correctly.

Innovation Design ProcessStanford School of Design

Empathize Define Ideate Prototyp

e Test

Design an Implementation Plan1. What are the dates and times?2. What is the location: physical/facility and/or

online/website?3. What are the implementation steps and target dates

(timeline) for completing each step. 4. What resources will you need to implement the

initiative.5. How much will the initiative cost? 6. How many leaders will you need to implement the

initiative, how you will find them, and how you will prepare them?

Design ProcessStep 6. Implement the initiative through small scale

prototyping.

Step 7. Implement the initiative with a wider audience and continue evaluation and improvements.

Parish Website: Planning Checklist1. Who is the audience? 2. Planning—visit other sites. 3. Reflect on what you are: what are your core values and how do you

want to say that? 4. Define a reasonable scope and get buy-in from stake-holders in the

congregation. 5. Do an easy survey of your audience—what are they looking for, what

do they expect? 6. Decide on the types of content to include (+ graphics).7. Map out your basic navigation (7 buckets is about all a person can

digest).8. Pick the technology or platform. 9. Create the design. 10. Build your content .11. Release the site.

Four-Scenario Faith Formation

Scenario 4 Uncommitte

d & Participating

Scenario 1 Vibrant Faith

& Active Engagement

Scenario 3 Unaffiliated

& Uninterested

Scenario 2 Spiritual but

Not Religious

Approach 1. Targeting Audiences & Needs

Scenario #4 Scenario #1

Scenario #3 Scenario #2

Scenario #4+ Marriage & FF+ Baptism & FF+ Family faith formation in the

1st decade of life+ Milestones faith formation+ Pathways to deepen faith &

engagement

Scenario #1+ Millennial Generation+ Marriage & FF+ Baptism & FF+ Baby Boomers FF+ Empowering people to

share their faith

Scenario #3+ Third Place settings+ Family life center+ Events (movie nights,

concerts, festivals)+ Community-based ministry

(service, recovery ministry)

Scenario #2+ Third Place settings+ Targeting 20-30 year olds+ Service: local - global+ Spiritual formation+ Pathways to deepen faith

& engagement

Example: Targeting Audiences & Needs

Approach 2. Diversify Formats

Face-to-Face& Virtual

On Your Own

Mentored

@Home

Small Group

Large Group

Church Communit

y

Community & World

Example: One Program, Multiple Formats

Format 1

Format 2

Format 3

Format 4

Program

Example: A Theme + Variety of Formats

Whole Church Theme

On Your Own (Print, Audio, Video, Online Resources &

Courses)

Small Group Course

(online & physical settings)

Family @Home (Online

Resources) Adult 4-Week Lecture Series @

Church(Videotaped &

online)

Age Group Programs:

Children & Youth

Example: Extend a Program

Gathered Program

Talk About It: Conversation

Questions Learn More: Watch a Video, Listen to a Talk, Read an Article

Live:Action Project for

the MonthPray

Devotions, Bible Reading, Table

Prayer

Family & Parents Center:

How-to helps (video, audio, print)

Family Faith Practices

Share What Your Learning: Write a Blog Entry, Create & Share

a Video or Project

Approach 3. Differentiate Faith Formation

Core Content &

Experiences

Option 1. Program

(current model) Option 2. Small Group

Program

Option 2. Online Small

Group Program using Skype

Option 3. Mentored

Option 4. Online Program (print &

video) with Regular Check-in

Online Projects

(everyone)

Social Networking Space for a Blog, Project Sharing

Example: ConfirmationAll Youth

Sunday Worship Service projects Confirmation blog & online confirmation projects Celebration of confirmation

Example: ConfirmationScenario 1 (In-Depth Experience)

In-depth faith formation in theology, Bible, spirituality, and Christian practices offered in different formats, customized to the needs of the young people: small group program, online courses and resources, and mentors

Spiritual formation experience (retreat) on spiritual practices and disciplines

Whole group confirmation-specific content

Example: ConfirmationScenario 4 (Foundations Experience)

Foundational program in Christian life essentials offered as a whole group experience, integrating confirmation-specific content

Experience of Christian practices and spiritual disciplines Active participation in the activities of church life and

ministries; apprenticeships with ministries and leaders to experience church life as “insiders”

Mentors to guide growth and participation in church life Whole group confirmation-specific content

Example: ConfirmationScenarios 2 and 3 (Exploration Experience)

Exploration experience to investigate the claims of the Christian faith in an informal, no pressure, non-judgmental, and friendly environment, offered in small group settings with a meal and including topics such as: Who is God? Who is Jesus? Why did Jesus die? Who is the Holy Spirit? How can we have faith? Why and how do I pray? Why and how should I read the Bible? How does God guide us? How can I resist evil? What about the Church? How can I make the most of the rest of my life?

Introductory experiences of Christian life through participating in Christian practices, service, worship, and so on.

Faith Formation Network

Church Programs

Small Groups & Support Groups

Mentors

Community Programs

Online Courses & Activities

Online Resources:

Print, Audio, Video

Video Conference

Apps

Blogs & Social Media

User-Generated

Content

Approach 4. Build A Network Approach

Marriage Process

Faith Formation

Before Marriage

Preparation for and

Celebration of Marriage

Faith Formation

After Celebration of Marriage

Discernment

Faith Formation

S1 Faith Growth Plan



Marriage Preparation

Mentors

Support Groups

Parish Website

Couples before Marriage

MarriageMentors

Faith PracticesPrayer, Rituals, Bible Reading, Service,

Faith Conversations

Continuing FormationTheology, Scripture, Spirituality

Married Life Tasks & IssuesCourses, Workshops, Online Resources

Support Groups

Quarterly Couple Gatherings

Newly Married Couples

For Your Marriage

Baptism Process

Faith Formation Before Baptism

Preparation for

and Celebrati

on of Baptism

Faith Formation After Celebration

of Baptis

m

DiscernmentParent Faith Growth Plans: S1, S2, S3, S4

Family Faith Growth Plans: S1, S2, S3, S4Mentors

On Your OwnAt Home

Small GroupLarge Group

In ChurchIn Community

Online Resource Center

Families in the First Decade of Life

Baptism

Mentors

Faith Practices @ Home

Prayer, Rituals, Bible, Family Conversation, Service

Parent Faith Formation & Parenting Skills

Workshops CoursesOnline ResourcesSupport Groups

Milestones

Baptism Anniversary, First Prayers, Start of School

Family Learning Programs

Church GatheringsSmall GroupsWorkshops

Parent/Family Online Resource Center

Families in the First Decade of Life

Stone 1: Raising a Healthy Baby physical, emotional and spiritual needs

of infants and their parents; nightly blessing as a family faith practice.

Stone 2: Raising a Healthy Preschooler physical, emotional and spiritual needs

of preschoolers and their parents; add prayer to the nightly blessing as a faith practice

Milestones (Faith Stepping Stones)

Stone 3: Entry Into School physical, emotional and spiritual needs

of kindergarteners and their parents; share highs & lows with children and add it to their nightly prayers and blessing

Stone 4: My Bible 120 key verses in young readers’ Bibles;

reading a Bible verse nightly, continue with highs & lows, prayer and blessing nightly


Stone 5: Livin’ Forgiven Passover to Lord’s Supper, with nightly

confession and absolution added to the faith practices of Bible reading, highs & lows, prayer and blessing

Stone 6: Surviving Adolescence theological reflection (i.e. setting the

Bible verse and the highs & lows of the day together to ask “What is God saying to us today?”), adding to confession/ absolution, Bible reading, highs & lows, prayer and blessing continue


Stone 7: Confirmation As Ordination

youth and parents look at their confession, their confirmation, and their call.

Stone 8: Graduation Blessing

seniors and their parents look back God’s blessings, look to the moment, and look to the future of their new callings


Family Faith Formation

Family Faith FormationMeal and Community Building (30 minutes)

Part 1. Gathering and Prayer (10-15)

Part 2. All Ages Learning Experience (20-30)

Part 3. In-Depth Learning Experience (75-90)

Option 1. Whole Group (together) Option 2. Age Group (parallel) Option 3. Activity Center

Part 4. Sharing Learning Experiences and Home Application (15-20)

Part 5. Closing Prayer (5-10)

Apps

The Wesley PlayhouseFamily Life Center

Example: Adult Faith Formation

Adult Faith

Formation

Online Courses

Audio & Video Programs

Books & Book Clubs

Life Transitions

Prayer & Spiritual Practices

Justice & Service

Small Group Studies

Life Tasks & Issues

Extended Learning Programs

Faith in Art Tours

Example: Young Adult Faith Formation

Young Adult Faith

Formation

Small Group Studies

Weekly Gathering &

Worship

Life Issues Workshops &

Online Resources

Prayer & Spiritual Practices

(online, small groups,

retreats)Justice & Service Projects

(local and global)

Online Courses

Online Audio & Video

Programs

Third Place Café

Alpha Course

Cross-generational Experiences

(worship, service,

mentoring)

Social Network &

Blog

iTunes U

Online Courses

American Bible Society

Sunday ConnectionLoyola Press

YouVersion Bible App

Bible Study, Small Groups

Service & Mission Local and global

“Developmental” with increasing depth and scope:1. introduction: several hours to a full day2. short term: multi-day and local3. weeklong and national mission trips4. global expedition of one or more weeks

Third Place Faith Formation Establish a Third Place gathering space in

the community, that offers hospitality, builds relationships, hosts spiritual conversations, provides programs and activities, and nourishes the spiritual life of people.

Spiritual Seeker Faith Formation

Introduction Dinner: Is there more to life than this?1. Week 1: Who is Jesus?2. Week 2: Why did Jesus die?3. Week 3: How can we have faith?4. Week 4: Why and how do I pray?5. Week 5: Why and how should I read the Bible?6. Week 6: How does God guide us?7. Week 7: How can I resist evil?8. Week 8: Why & how should we tell others?9. Week 9: Does God heal today?10. Week 10: What about the Church?11. Weekend: Who is the Holy Spirit? What does the Holy Spirit

do? How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit? How can I make the most of the rest of my life?

Spiritual Seeker Faith Formation

Pathway to Deeper FaithOur Lady of Soledad Catholic Parish

Mini-Retreat 101: “Catholics Alive!” “What does it mean to be a follower of Christ?”

Mini-Retreat 201: “Alive and Growing Spiritually!” maturing in the Catholic faith

Mini-Retreat 301: “Alive and Gifted!”discerning how to serve God in ministry

Mini-Retreat 401: “Alive in the World!” living as witnesses for Christ, as contagious Catholic Christians

Mini-Retreat 501: “Alive to Praise God!” Catholic worship and the sacraments

Pathway to Deeper Faith1. Spirituality: What’s the

Buzz?2. Who is Jesus?3. Do We Need the Spirit?4. Can I Accept God’s Mercy?5. Can Mass Make My Life

Meaningful?6. The Church and Me

Empowering the Community to Share their Faith


Step One. Church Leader’s Study: Unbinding the Gospel

Step Two: All-Church Saturation Study: Unbinding Your Heart: 40 Days of Prayer & Faith Sharing. 1. six-week, church-wide, small group E-vent! 2. pray each day’s scripture and prayer exercise and

work with a prayer partner3. study a chapter of the book with their small group4. worship with sermons, music, and prayers centered

on the week’s chapter


Step Three: An Experiment in Prayer and Community: Unbinding Your Soul. 1. a no-obligation experience of substantial spiritual

discussion, prayer and community for people who aren’t connected with a church

2. church members invite their friends into a four-week small group experience with short study chapters, an individual prayer journal, prayer partner activities, and group exercises.

Facilitating Change

A Framework for ChangeDirect the Rider (the conscious mind), eliminating what looks like resistance but is more often a lack of clarity by providing crystal-clear direction.

Following the bright spots: investigate what’s working and clone it.

Script the critical moves: don’t think big picture, think in terms of specific behaviors.

Point to the destination: change is easier when you know where you’re going and why it’s worth it.

A Framework for ChangeMotivate the Elephant (the subconscious), eliminating what looks like laziness but is more often exhaustion by engaging emotions to get people on the same path as you.

Find the feeling: knowing something isn’t enough to cause change. Make people feel something.

Shrink the change: break down the change until it no longer spooks the Elephant.

Grow your people: cultivate a sense of identity and instill the growth mindset.

A Framework for ChangeShape the Path (the situation), eliminating what looks like a people problem but is more often a situation problem, by making the environment more conducive to the change you seek.

Tweak the environment: when the situation changes, the behavior changes. So change the situation.

Build habits: when behavior is habitual, it’s “free”—it doesn’t tax the Rider. Look for ways to encourage habits.

Rally the herd: behavior is contagious. Help it spread.

Making Change Stick1. Understand and spell out the impact of the change on

people.2. Build an emotional and rational case for change.3. Ensure that the entire leadership team is a role model

for change. 4. Mobilize people to “own” and accelerate the change.5. Embed the change in the fabric of the organization.

How Do We Make Change?(Transforming Congregational Education Project)

1. Substantial change takes time and does not proceed smoothly.2. Take action and be ambitious: “boldly go…” 3. Vision, action, reflection, and conversation feed off one another

to drive the process forward.4. Getting the right people engaged and empowering them is

critical. “Get the right people on the bus…”5. The change process is powered by and largely about learning.6. Quality outside assistance can help the process tremendously.7. Because change is complex, a multi-pronged support system is

needed. 8. Financial resources can help “lubricate” change.

Increasing a True Sense of Urgency

StrategyCreate action that is exceptionally alert, externally oriented, relentlessly aimed at winning, making some progress each and every day, and constantly purging low value-added activities—all by always focusing on the heart and not just the mind.


1. Bring the Outside In Reconnect internal reality with external

opportunities and hazards Bring in emotionally compelling data, people,

video, sites, and sounds.


2. Behave with Urgency Every Day Never act content, anxious, or angry. Demonstrate your own sense of urgency

always in meetings, one-on-one interactions, memos, and email, and do so as visibly as possible to as many people as possible.


3. Find Opportunity in Crises Always be alert to see if crises can be a

friend, not just a dreadful enemy, in order to destroy complacency

Proceed with caution, and never be naïve, since crises can be deadly.


4. Deal with the NoNos Remove or neutralize all the relentless

urgency-killers, people who are not skeptics but are determined to keep a group complacent or, if needed, to create destructive urgency.

Documents

John Roberto, LifelongFaith Associates (jroberto @ lifelongfaith.com)