Before we start designing a product or service, it’s important to ask ourselves the right questions so we can anticipate potential consequences – both intended and unintended.

This worksheet is aimed at helping you evaluate your products for any potential harms and prioritise next steps, whether that’s doing more research or holding brainstorms to address the results you uncovered.

We chose to define this worksheet from a user’s perspective, rather than a practitioner’s perspective. Regardless of which specific challenges your team is more likely to grapple with, we believe the practice of assessing your work’s impact on others should be centered on those affected by it.

Because we attempt to cover the various ways users may be impacted, you might find that certain scenarios are more relevant to your work than others. Feel free to zoom in when that happens, but remember to keep an open mind and consider the unexpected.

This worksheet was created to provide a self-service resource to explore a subject that can sometimes be intimidating or overwhelming. The hope is that anyone can dive in with no prep needed. This isn’t a be-all, end-all approach to auditing your product, but rather a starting point for conversation and investigation.