Adams, C., Nash, J.B., & Rous, B. Using design thinking approaches to facilitate data collection and use among stakeholders. A design thinking approach is a way of generating ideas and finding solutions to complex problems which have a degree of uncertainty. A critical feature of design thinking is empathy and truly understanding needs from a user perspective. Since stakeholder engagement is a critical feature of evaluation, and often social programs have a high degree of uncertainty, a design thinking approach fits well into the practice of evaluation. At the basic level, design thinking is characterized by the following five steps—Understand, observe, visualize, prototype and test. We theorize about how these five steps can be used at all levels of the evaluation process from question development to the use of evaluation data. We also show how a design thinking approach helps formalize stakeholder involvement in the evaluation of a Clinical Translation Science Award Program.#designthinking #2014Conference