The Program Design Tool helps planners specify the main features of their program design. This tool helps you identify alternative designs that take the foregoing characteristics, interactions, constraints and flexibility into account. For example, in resource-poor situations or where a number of key constraints exist, you may want to invest slowly and carefully in just the key aspects of your desired program. In environments where privacy and confidentiality are paramount, you may want to begin the program with a modest design and expand it incrementally while building knowledge and confidence in security techniques and technologies.

Program designs can be developed at different levels of aspiration. Making the different levels explicit allows you to compare the costs relative to the benefits at each level. For example, if a moderate level of technical infrastructure will sufficiently meet your security requirements, then it makes no sense to push for an elaborate infrastructure to ensure security. On the other hand, if only an elaborate level of meta data will serve the needs of your users, you must find the resources to pay for it.

Any number of approaches to using this tool may make sense in your environment. A single individual can complete the tool and share it with a larger design team for refinement, or a formal facilitated design session could be used involving all participants at the same time. Regardless of the logistics, the most effective use of the Program Design Tool will result from a process of reviewing and refining the responses.