Test and learn

My fellow coworkers, Caroline and Tom, organise a regular Show and Tell at The Skiff. Yesterday, there was a bumper episode, full of wonderful things people are doing. I wanted to note one about the UK government, because I’d not heard about it before.Becky’s let us know that the government has granted “permission to test and learn” for policy implementation.It’s all in something called the Magenta Book, as explained on the Test and Learn page:Traditionally, policies and programmes have often been designed in detail before implementation, with evaluation taking place after substantial investment and rollout. […]Sound familiar, software people, to the bad old days? Well now:Test and Learn […] encourages teams to build a shared understanding of the problem and the wider system, identify and test critical assumptions early, generate evidence through real-world experimentation, and refine policies and services through iterative feedback. By starting small, learning quickly, and adapting…