Social Norms Design Checklist

We created this checklist to support both program design and ongoing implementation of social norms-shifting interventions. Often programmers plan to challenge and shift harmful social norms but are not certain of where to begin and how to adapt their activities to include norms-shifting components, effectively moving beyond individual behavior change. Programs that do not understand how to shift harmful norms may inadvertently reinforce them, or simply be ineffective at challenging and shifting them. This checklist provides examples of questions to ask while designing activities, examples of how to fill in any gaps identified, and what norms-shifting interventions look like in action. The checklist should be used after the program identifies the harmful social norms that act as barriers to positive behaviors and outcomes and thus the context in which norms operate. Available in English, French, Spanish, and Arabic.