Recommended Process:

1. Brainstorm as many impacts that could stem from this issue (Refer to "Primary/Secondary Impacts" for tips to help you brainstorm).
2. Go through the impacts and populate any "How Much/Who/How Likely/When" information you can think up. Snap judgements and first impressions are ok for this stage. If you can't think of it, it's ok to leave it blank right now.(Refer to Severity, Who it Impacts, Likelihood, and Timeframe for definitions of each.)
3. Identify which impacts are Primary, Secondary or Tertiary (Definitions of Primary/Secondary Impacts).
4. Now you can either post it and invite others to help you refine it, or you can take a last scrub through and fine-tune it. Either way, once you're satisfied it's time to submit.

Primary/Secondary Impacts:

As mentioned above, impacts are the "what". They're discrete, tangible, and usually they're what populate the news. We've pulled together the below questions in order to help brainstorm impacts. Below that, we've also tried to help define what is a "Primary" impact, what is a "Second" impact, and what is a "Tertiary" impact.

First, here are some questions that can help you brainstorm some impacts:

• Did you hear about this issue from a specific incident? If so, can that incident be generalized and broken down to it's bare bones? Would incidents like this always have similar consequences? (E.G. death/ injuries/ hurt feelings.)
• Other than the incident itself, are there any other potential impacts? For example, acts of terrorism kill people, but they also have the goal of raising panic, causing anxiety, etc.

Now that you've brainstormed, here's how to characterize the impacts:

• Primary impacts: Of these impacts, which one is most certain, direct, and/or serious? This is likely the primary one. In other words, the primary impact is a direct consequence of the issue, that has a very good chance of happening, and may occur shortly after the issue was first realized.
• Secondary impacts: Which impacts are less serious, certain or direct? Are there impacts that would only occur if a primary impact occurred? (Example: If the issue is that people are worse drivers now that they have smart phones, one potential impact could be more car crashes. As a result of these crashes, people might develop a fear of cars. This fear would be a secondary impact.)
• Tertiary impacts: Any other impacts that either could result as an impact after a secondary impact, or is a real concern but not up to the level of a secondary impact? These are any of the other issues: those that are less certain, or a minor impact that could cause a bigger problem if it happens enough (or if it happens the same time as other tertiary impacts).

Impact Severity:

This is the "how much" for the impact. When the impact is realized, just how serious would it be? Below definitions are for the drop-down options you'll see when populating impact severity. It goes from most serious, to least serious.

1. Absolute Worst: everyone involved would either die, result in permanent and irreversible loss of freedom, and/or permanent and irreversible inability to support oneself or one's family.
2. Freaking Horrendous: some would die/some would be injured, serious impacts to financial well being.
3. Still a tragedy: some or all injured, manageable impacts to rights, and/or ability to pursue happiness.
4. Hard to say: less quantifiable impacts, usually accumulates over time. For instance, gradual changes in societal norms that could lead to dire consequences.
5. It Just Sucks: Impacts to quality of life
6. It's barely an issue: "Ow! I stubbed my toe!"

Impact Area:

This is the "who" for the impact. For the above severity, who/how many would it impact? Below definitions are for the drop-down options you'll see when populating impact severity. It goes from most serious, to least serious.

1. Absolutely Everyone: This would impact 80%-100% of humanity
2. Whole Continents: 20-80% of the world could be impacted
3. Sub-Continent: Impacts to approx 5-19%. Would include impacts to the entirety of one of the largest countries. (At or over 100 million people/ over 800,000 square miles/2,000,000 square kilometers)
4. Nation-level: Impacts to the average country/ larger regions within larger countries (over 10 million people/ over 80,000 square miles/200,000 square kilometers
5. State/Territory level: Equivalent to average state or territory, or one of the largest cities/regions (over 3 million people/ 40,000 square miles/100,000 square kilometers)
6. Regional: Med-large cities, metropolitan areas, large portions of states
7. Local: towns/smaller cities, city blocks
8. Neighborhood: blocks within towns
9. Individual: a couple people
10. Minor: I dunno...someone's little toe?

Impact Likelihood:

This is the "how likely" for the impact. For the above severity, who/how many would it impact? Below definitions are for the drop-down options you'll see when populating impact severity. It goes from most serious, to least serious.

1. Definitely going to happen (95-100%)
2. Probably (85-95%)
3. Maybe (75-85%)
4. Could happen (50-75%)
5. Possibility (25-50%)
6. Not likely (15-25%)
7. Probably not (5-15%)
8. Definitely not (0-5%)

Impact Time-frame:

This is the "when" for the impact. For the above severity, who/how many would it impact? Below definitions are for the drop-down options you'll see when populating impact severity. It goes from most serious, to least serious.

1. It’s already happened
2. Immediate Future (<1 week)
3. Soon (<3 months)
4. Before you know it (<1 year)
5. Forseeable Future (<10 years)
6. In Our Lifetimes (<30 years)
7. Our Kid's Problem (<75 years)
8. It'll be someone's problem (>75 years)