Case Study
Improving Evidence-Based Decision Making for Changemakers through Tech-Enabled Experimentation Across Asia
Project Overview
In partnership with Ashoka, 10x Impact Labs is supporting the 2025 ASPIRe Accelerator as the Product Management Unit (PMU), enabling eight fellows across Asia to design and run evidence-based technology experiments. The engagement focuses on guiding changemakers through their tech journey by leveraging Samaaja, a citizen data platform, to test hypotheses, collect real-time community insights, and iteratively refine solutions. The initiative is designed to shift fellows from intuition-led approaches to data-informed decision making, while contributing to Ashoka’s broader vision of building a networked ecosystem of changemakers grounded in evidence.
Engagement Structure
A dedicated team comprising a Product Manager and a Developer from 10x Impact Labs is providing continuous, hands-on support to fellows over a one-year period. The engagement is structured around ongoing collaboration rather than fixed phases, enabling fellows to move at their own pace while receiving consistent guidance on product thinking, technology adoption, and experimentation. The team works closely with each fellow to translate their program ideas into testable prototypes and deploy them in real-world contexts.
Key Objectives
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1. Build–Test–Iterate Product Journeys:
Support fellows in translating ideas into lean technology prototypes and iteratively improving them based on real-world usage.
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2. Evidence Generation for Decision Making:
Enable fellows to design and run structured experiments that generate actionable data to inform program and product decisions.
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3. Strengthening MEL-Aligned Thinking:
Integrate Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) principles into the experimentation process to ensure continuous learning and adaptation.
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4. Ecosystem-Level Learning:
Contribute to Ashoka’s vision of building a networked changemaking ecosystem by generating shared learnings and evidence across fellows and geographies.
Methodology
The engagement follows a sprint-based, MEL-aligned approach to experimentation, combining product thinking with participatory research and continuous learning:
Hypothesis-Driven Experimentation:
Fellows are supported in identifying key assumptions within their programs and designing experiments to validate them through structured testing cycles.
Samaaja Deployment:
The Samaaja platform is deployed as a lightweight, adaptable tool for collecting community-level data, enabling fellows to capture insights directly from stakeholders.
Stakeholder Engagement:
Fellows engage with end users and community members through interviews and interactions, ensuring that solutions are grounded in real needs and contexts.
Onboarding and Capacity Building:
Continuous support is provided to help fellows understand product thinking, data usage, and technology workflows, building long-term internal capacity. Iterative Learning Loops: Data collected through experiments is regularly reviewed to refine prototypes, adjust strategies, and inform next steps in the fellows’ journeys.
Skills Applied
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Product Management and Sprint Design
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Hypothesis-Driven Experimentation:
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MEL Integration and Data Strategy
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User Research and Stakeholder Engagement
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Technology Deployment and Prototyping
Outcome & Deliverables
- Samaaja Pilot Deployments: Successful deployment of Samaaja as a pilot platform across multiple fellow-led initiatives to enable structured data collection and experimentation.
- Technology Prototypes and Iterations: Development and refinement of lean tech solutions, including chatbot-based workflows, tailored to each fellow’s context.
- Capacity Building for Fellows: Strengthened ability among fellows to adopt product thinking, design experiments, and use data effectively in their programs.
- Ongoing Experimentation Frameworks: Establishment of repeatable processes for running experiments, collecting data, and iterating on solutions.
Impact
The engagement is enabling fellows to make more informed, evidence-based decisions by grounding their innovations in real user data and iterative testing. By reducing the risks associated with technology adoption and shifting towards a structured experimentation approach, fellows are better equipped to scale solutions that are relevant and effective. At an ecosystem level, the initiative contributes to building a shared evidence base across Ashoka’s network, while strengthening Samaaja as a platform for citizen data and community-driven insights.
Duration
1 year