VERGE Framework

Overview

The VERGE framework is an ethnographic futures tool designed as a human-centered alternative to the STEEP framework for environmental scanning and futures research. Rather than focusing on external macro-environmental drivers, VERGE examines change through the lens of human experience and agency¹²³.

The Six Domains

VERGE organizes exploration around six fundamental domains of human experience:

• Define: How people define themselves, their communities, and their environment - covering identity, boundaries, and meaning-making
• Relate: How people relate to one another through social structures, relationships, and networks
• Connect: How people connect physically, virtually, and emotionally - including communication, transportation, and digital connectivity
• Create: How people create value, products, and systems - addressing innovation, production, and rule-making
• Consume: How people acquire and use goods, services, and experiences - covering consumption patterns and exchange modes
• Destroy: How people destroy value, resources, or norms - examining waste, violence, obsolescence, and system breakdown

When to Use VERGE Instead of STEEP

Use VERGE when:

Human-centered perspective needed: When your project requires understanding how change is experienced and enacted by people rather than analyzing external forces¹⁴

STEEP feels too abstract: When traditional macro-environmental categories feel disconnected from lived experience or too rigid for nuanced exploration³⁵

Exploring agency and interaction: When you need to understand how people actively shape and respond to change rather than simply being acted upon by external forces³⁶

Cross-domain analysis required: When investigating how changes cascade across different aspects of human experience and create interconnected effects²⁷

Scenario development focus: When building scenarios that emphasize human behavior, social dynamics, and the ripple effects of change through human systems⁸⁹

Continue using STEEP when:

Macro-level scanning needed: When conducting broad environmental scans of external drivers affecting organizations or systems¹³

Stakeholder familiarity required: When working with audiences comfortable with traditional business or policy analysis frameworks³⁵

Regulatory/demographic focus: When specific external factors like legal changes or demographic shifts are central to your analysis¹³

The VERGE framework represents a shift toward more anthropocentric futures thinking, making it particularly valuable for organizations seeking to understand not just what might change, but how people will experience and shape that change²³⁶⁵⁷.