Nose to Tail Tool

Description

The Nose to Tail Tool (NTT) provides a series of questions and a checklist to help bring innovations, ideas, projects and evaluations to communities and individuals. The website connects developers, end users and decision makers at an early point in the planning process to ensure the successful completion and uptake of a given innovation, program or policy. The NTT is rooted in the notion that a product is more likely to be successful when the final user experience is incorporated into the planning process. Such an approach allows redesigns to happen earlier on in the planning process, and also helps to organize the product’s eventual dissemination and use.

To use the NTT, a user must first enter information regarding the idea or project in question, as well as about the collaborators. The user will then input additional data as pertains to the planning and design process. The stages are as follows:

• Identify the problem;
• Develop the innovation;
• Design the pilot test;
• Evaluate the pilot test;
• Decide to implement;
• Plan the implementation;
• Evaluate the implementation;
• Test for extensibility;
• Decide to scale up;
• Plan the scale up;
• Evaluate the scale up;
• Ongoing monitoring.

Steps for Using Method/Tool

The NTT takes the innovator (e.g., researchers), end user (e.g., practice community and innovation users) and decision makers (e.g., government and non-government policy makers) through a step-by-step planning process. It also asks users for information about context—that is, the physical and social environment, health system and regulatory, legislative and economic environment—through a series of stages and questions. More than one individual or collaborator can contribute answers to a question, and when all of the questions at a given stage have been answered, the next stage can be accessed. The NTT facilitates extensive collaboration and encourages all designated users to contribute to the process. The tool also tracks progress and offers support at each stage.