Strategy
Part of Planning a parenting publication around what it helps an adult do
A parenting strategy that rejects ideas: five tests and one review decision
Turn down parenting publication ideas with five tests: adult task, evidence, child safeguard, route and capacity, then continue, revise, pause or close.
A strategy earns its keep by what it turns down. If an idea does not help the chosen family task, cannot be supported properly or requires unacceptable exposure of a child, it stays out of the plan. Five tests make that refusal routine, and a dated review decision keeps the plan honest.
What to take away
- Put every new idea through five testsadult task, evidence, child safeguard, route and capacity.
- One failed test is enough to keep an idea out of the plan.
- Name the failed test when you reject an idea, so the reason can be checked later.
- Pair one primary route with one return route instead of spreading across free accounts.
- Set a review date and pre-agree the choicescontinue, revise, pause or close.
Apply the five tests in order
Run each idea through the tests in the same order and stop at the first failure. The order puts the reader first and the workload last, so a clever idea cannot skip the adult task. The table fixes each question.
| Test | Question | Reject when |
|---|---|---|
| Adult task | Does it help the chosen adult finish a decision? | It serves no stated family task |
| Evidence | Can every claim be supported properly? | A source owner or fact-check point is missing |
| Child safeguard | Does it need a child to reveal or perform anything? | It exposes a child unacceptably |
| Route | Does it fit the primary route or the return route? | It needs a channel the plan has not chosen |
| Capacity | Can named people deliver it? | Hours or an owner are missing |
Three invented examples show the rule. A series that films a child's reaction at the school gate fails the child test. A guide that treats one household's experience as proof of eligibility fails the evidence test. A weekly format with no named owner fails capacity. Each is rejected for one reason that can be written down.
Test the idea against the adult task
The first test uses the outcome sentence: "We help [adult group] to [finish a decision] in [relevant place or system]." A publication could help carers in one English region prepare questions for childcare visits. It should not promise to serve every stage of family life.
Base the outcome on observed adult needs, then record which groups have not yet been reached. An idea that cannot be traced to a named adult reader and a finished decision belongs on the rejected list, however good the topic sounds.
State the adult outcome
- Name adult group
- Name decision to finish
- Name place or system
- Check observed adult needs
- Record unreached groups
Test the evidence and the child boundary
Decide which claims need an England source, which can use UK-wide evidence and which platform functions require a supplier's own page. A personal account may explain one household's experience, but it cannot establish medical advice, eligibility or a national pattern.
For each recurring format, name a source owner, fact-check point and expiry trigger. Where evidence is absent, narrow the assertion rather than filling the gap with a creator-market estimate. A change in entitlement, regulator guidance or product instructions should reopen the draft.
Choose what the publication will never ask a child to reveal or perform. Names, school clues, live location, health records and private distress are on that list.
The ICO says that if children are likely to access your service, even if they are not your target audience, you need to consider the Children's code. An adult-facing article can often be shown with objects, diagrams or fictional test data.
Test the route and the capacity
The primary route is where the audience meets the work. The return route is how an adult deliberately comes back, perhaps through a saved page or properly consented email. Do not plan four social channels merely because accounts are free.
The channel comparison weighs production effort, accessibility, moderation, measurement, commercial controls and dependence on platform distribution.
Then match the promise to capacity. List research, writing, checking, filming, moderation, corrections and administration hours before choosing frequency. Assign named owners, including a person able to stop publication on safeguarding grounds. Budget for specialist review where legal, health or child-welfare interpretation creates material risk.
Decide what the review can change
Set a review date and pre-agree the four outcomes: continue, revise, pause or close. Decide them before the results arrive, so a disappointing month cannot rewrite the rules. A pilot of this kind is laid out in the ninety-day plan.
Measure whether adults complete the intended task, not just whether a post travels. GOV.UK's Service Manual says to always combine metrics with user research and iterate on insight from both. Use creator-owned evidence: correction requests, completed guide actions, qualified email returns, production time and disclosed revenue.
Do not invent a traffic target before a baseline exists. The plan is complete when every idea that remains has an owner, a source standard, a family-safety limit and a clear next decision.
Before you act
- Run every new idea through the five tests in order.
- Write the failed test beside each rejected idea.
- Name a source owner, fact-check point and expiry trigger for each format.
- Pair one primary route with one return route.
- Match promised frequency to listed hours and named owners.
- Set a review date with continue, revise, pause or close agreed in advance.
Common questions
What happens when an idea fails one test?
It stays out of the plan. One failed test is enough, and the reason is written beside the idea so that anyone can check the decision later. If the failure was an evidence gap, narrow the assertion rather than filling the gap with an estimate.
Why pair a primary route with a return route?
The primary route is where the audience encounters the work, and the return route is how an adult deliberately comes back, perhaps through a saved page or properly consented email. Pairing them avoids planning four social channels merely because accounts are free.
What should be decided before the review date?
The four choices: continue, revise, pause or close. Agree them in advance, then judge them with creator-owned evidence such as correction requests, completed guide actions, qualified email returns, production time and disclosed revenue. No traffic target should be set before a baseline exists.
