Context Navigator versteht sich als eine Ergänzung zu agilen Frameworks und Design Thinking Ansätzen. Der Anwendungsbereich sind Projekte oder Produkte in komplexen Kontexten. Es kann als Modul für Discovery und Evaluation verwendet werden, oder als Zusatzqualifikation für Designer, Produktentwickler, Researcher oder ähnliche Rollen. 

Context Navigator understands itself as an addition to Agile Frameworks and Design Thinking approaches. The application is in projects or products in complex contexts. It can be used as a module for Discovery and Evaluation or as a skillstraining for Designers, Product people, researchers or similar roles. 

In kurz, die Anwendung ermöglicht es, mit anderen Augen zu sehen. Es gibt schnellen Einblick in die Augen einer möglichen Zielgruppe, aber es trainiert vor allem die Fähigkeit des "Expertenblicks". Die Fähigkeit belastbare, aber dynamische Modelle schnell zu erstellen ist entscheidend in komplexen Kontexten. 

The skillstraining is embedded in the set of methods and principles context mapper entails. In short, it trains the ability to see with different types of eyes. You can quickly switch into the eyes of a potential target group, or use expert vision to evaluate a situation. The ability to quickly model a dynamic situation is crucial for decision making in complex contexts. 

The main content is a set of methods which we call languages, combined with principles of application. They are flexible as communication tools, research and creative methods as well as stakeholder management in explicitly participatory projects. In addition, context mapper covers a set of practices which we call mindsets, which help navigate decision making under uncertainty. 

Das Konzept ist offen für alle möglichen thematischen Fragestellungen. In der Praxis sind Anwender aus kleinen Teams die Hauptzielgruppe. Agile Softwareentwicklung, technische Entwicklungszusammenarbeit oder Produktentwicklung im kleinen Rahmen sind erprobte Anwendungszwecke. Das intendierte Publikum sind Researcher, Designer, Product Owner oder Projektleiter. 

The application is not limited to any specific topic or area. In practice, it's most used within small teams, for instance in agile software development, technical aid projects or similar. The intended audience are Researchers, Designers, Product Owners or Product Managers. 

Für Unterfangen im größeren institutionellen Rahmen oder mit sehr großen Zielgruppen kann das Verfahren grundsätzlich ergänzend eingesetzt werden, benötigt dafür aber Kombination mit weiteren Methoden oder Frameworks. 

The Context Mapper is not a standalone methodology or a complete framework for the whole product development journey. It has limitations when applied in highly structured large-scale contexts like hierarchical institutions, but can be combined with other methods and frameworks to overcome those limitations. 

It is explicitly usable for stakeholder engagement and parts of stakeholder management, but it does not cover project management for the product teams. 

We believe that complex contexts need an approach that matches. Complex contexts are ambiguous, uncertain and volatile. 

The set of practices we propose match that. We encourage you to be actively ambiguous, meaning, hold different and conflicting values at the same time. We strongly embrace uncertainty, in that we constantly check what we know and what we don't, and to what degree we are certain. In the phase of discovery, volatility can be helpful quality. Instead of sticking to a plan, switching fluently between topics, perspectives and levels of abstraction allows you to find potentials for success. We believe that a good idea is an emergent phenomenon. Emergence means, that in a nonlinear way things come together to form a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts. 

Im Kern dreht sich das Konzept um Tests. Prototyping im Sinne agiler Softwareentwicklung bezeichnet hier die Annäherung an ein wertstiftendes Produkt oder eine wirksame Intervention im sozialen Kontext über schrittweises, systematisches Ausprobieren. Die Methoden unterstützen das Generieren von Ideen oder Hypothesen aus Daten. Partizipative Ansätze erleichtern es, Ideen zu testen und die Ergebnisse besser zu verstehen. Ab dem Punkt eines erfolgreichen Tests kann auf andere Vorgehensweisen gewechselt werden. 

From this philosophy, the core of context navigator revolves around testing. In software development, prototyping means trying things out in order to understand. In design, often prototypes are used to try out ideas that might work. We expand this towards prototyping in research, where sometimes the best way to answer a question is to make a test. 

Trial and error implies that things should go wrong, because else you didn't ask interesting questions. That however comes at a cost. A solid risk management is necessary to fully reap the benefits of open prototyping. In real projects, you can't just try anything. There are actual risks for actual people involved. Looking at constraints and building a foundation of logic are some of the tools we use to help risk management when information is limited. 

Complex contexts have so many different layers and aspects that no one person can be expert in all of them. Like a ship is steered by a whole crew, or programming is sometimes more effective when done in pairs, we approach everything together. There are things which can be done well sequentially and with separate roles. We believe that research, design and product discovery only work when disciplines share a common space in which they think as a system. We have an academic background why we believe this, but also want to share the joy it brings us to work this way. 

We are ourselves practitioners of this framework and continue to learn. We offer an open exchange of knowledge in a community of practice to everyone who is curious to learn the art of prototyping. 

Wir sind selbst Lernende und Praktizierende des Frameworks. Wir bieten Lebendigen Wissensaustausch und eine community of practice für alle, die neugierig auf die Kunst des Ausprobierens sind.