Problem Framing With a Vignette
Context:	At the beginning of a group model building process
Purpose:	Engage with stakeholders in a manner that resonates and is relatable to them and their community in order to frame the problem and initiate mapping
Status:	New
Primary nature of group task:	Convergent
Preparation time:	3–4 hours
Time required during session:	45 minutes
Follow-up Time:	0 minutes
Materials needed:	Worksheet A Blank paper Tacks or tape Markers Adhesive dots or electronic voting mechanism
Inputs:	Vignette about the topic (e.g., short essays that present an unidentifiable/fictionalized story that presents the topic of focus at a personal or community level)
Outputs:	Prioritized problem statements (i.e., potential lists of variables to start a causal loop diagram from)
Roles:	Facilitator works with group Wall builder to take people’s statements, hang on wall and help group
Steps
The facilitator presents a vignette and allows the participants time to read and digest the story
Based on the vignette, the facilitator instructs the participants to complete as many answers to the following statement on worksheet A:
What stood out to me most about this vignette was that ________________ led to ____________________,
After the participants have time to write their answers, the facilitator asks them to identify their top 1-2 choices of their answers they feel are most important to address
In a round-robin fashion, each participants reads aloud their top statement
The facilitator writes each statement on flip chart paper that is on a wall.
After the group has gone through once identifying and posts it on the wall, the facilitator asks participants to provide their second top statement if it has not already been provided.
The facilitator tries to identify any themes and groupings among the statements and/or asked the participants to help quickly identify the top 8 items from those on the list.
After a reduced list is confirmed, participants are allowed to vote for their top choice (either