The Impact Compass by ATÖLYE

What is this template?

This template provides a framework that is designed to help gauge the potential impact of projects on organisations, client work as well as people and the planet. It serves as a work-in-progress tool for individuals or creative consultancies to gauge the impact they can generate with their projects. 

Who is it for?

This template is for individuals (designers, creatives, or innovators) or creative consultancies working towards creating positive impact with(in) their projects.

How to use this template?

1. Make a copy of this Miroverse template to access it from your own personal Miro space. 

2. The template is made up of 3 sections that focuses on different impact areas: Impact for your organization, your partner and/or client, and the people [society] & the planet. We would suggest that you follow this order while reflecting on your project, since this flow is structured to start your internal ecosystems to external ecosystems.

3. We suggest that at least 2 people collectively look through and answer the questions within the canvases by going beyond simply checking off the “Yes & No” checkboxes, but discussing in further detail how your project is addressing the impact-related questions at hand. Moreover, exploring potential room for improvements for each specific question would be the best practice. Use the post-its below to add your notes to refer back to.

4. We built this template with the hope of updating and improving it as we learn and gain experience utilizing it. So feel free to reframe these questions for your project’s unique scope. 

5. We highly suggest coming back and gauging your previous answers after  completing certain milestones in your project in order to see if anything has changed or if unexpected impact has been created in certain arenas. 

6. For any feedback, please reach out to us—we want to be able to continuously improve this framework.

The content for this framework and this template was made with love by Nazlı Cangönül, Başak Aras, and Melissa Lara Clissold. ❤️

Big thanks to Bengi Turgan, Deniz Dönmez and Zeynep Aykul Yavuz for their contribution.