Explanation on how the group explored the gap between intentions and outcomes in research:
Our diverse group reflected on various aspects of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), and particularly on the challenges of implementing that type of research, as well as evaluating it. We explored the reasons behind the gap between intentions and outcomes that we meet in our own critical research projects; that involve some levels of interdisciplinarity and even transdisciplinarity.  

To further explore this gap, we designed a board game that we called "the dicey do", as a way to map out, in a light, fun and entertaining way, some of the complex, intricate and critical challenges that early career researchers face in their research. After discussing our own assumptions, expectations, and experiences in our research projects, we mapped our intentions into four broad categories: professional, planned, personal, and project. We also categorised the outcomes under the labels of: desired, undesired, unintentional, and intentional; with the intention to illustrate the fact that often, outcomes in (personal and professional) life are often unplanned and unpredictable.    

Just like any other board game, ours is also using the dice as a way to illustrate the randomness of events happening in an early career researcher's day. In particular, we noticed that we all had, in our group, a rather strong hope or intention to be productive in our work. By determining that the most productive day was a "six" of the dice roll, and an unproductive day was a "one" of the dice roll, the game is a way to illustrate that not every day is equally fruitful in that matter!

The boardgame has limitations, and might depict a rather linear way between the gap between intentions and outcomes, and potential solutions or strategies to address that. This was not our intention, but rather, the design of the game was to emphasise the randomness of some events, and illustrate that despite the best intentions and efforts to arrive at a specific outcome, there is always unpredictability especially when dealing with critical research. This is misaligned with what is often expected of early career researchers: measurable outcomes, that should arrive at specific points in time. 

So, please have a try at our game, explore the unpredictability of research projects, and may the odds be ever in your favour!