ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the process of project design—the "framing decisions" that will determine the project's character. The important framing decision concerns the purpose of the project. This involves choosing the problem, issue, or opportunity on which the project will focus, and at the same time specifying the type and magnitude of outcomes desired. Planners use a variety of tools and techniques to help them do things, including force-field analysis and branching-tree diagrams. Both the force-field and the branching-tree exercises help planners identify likely intervention points, and thus project objectives. Once the project's goals have been outlined, appropriate strategies for attaining objectives must be crafted. As a way of assessing strategy options, planners often find it useful to design an access structure showing how project services will be delivered. Sociocultural appraisal provides a major opportunity for anthropologists to ensure that issues of context are properly addressed in project designs.
