Test the Change

Steps: Test the Change

Go to the toolkit for Test the Change.

The PDSA Cycle

Once you have worked to Understand the Problem and Focus your Effort, you will move to Test the Change.  This cycle has gone by many names, but we will use the Plan-Do-Study-Act or PDSA cycle. 

The PDSA cycle is a process by which you test the changes and steps in the process are intended to help you learn from what’s happening so that you can better direct future actions.  The STUDY component helps to build greater understanding of what works, and what doesn’t, so that you can make progress toward achieving your aim.

The PDSA Cycle

Plan 

  • What's your change?
  • What's your prediction?
  • Plan to test
               →

Do

  • Execute your plan
  • Collect data & 
    document observations
                  ↓

Act

  • Adapt
    Adopt
    Abandon
               ↑

Study 

  • Compare results to 
    original prediction
  • What did you learn?
                 ←

PDSA

Plan

Design Your Test

Predict Changes

Now that you have identified a problem and selected a change idea to test, what do you think will happen? This is Scientific Process 101. Use your Theory of Improvement to articulate what you expect to happen for both implementation and impact. 

Testing a theory using data requires thinking through what the data would look like if the theory is true as well as if the theory may not be true. Determining these boundaries in advance allows the team to avoid being swayed by random variation, to guard against the temptation to see what they want to see in the data, and to establish consensus for how they will use the data to inform decision-making. Make predictions and write them down!

Do

Study

The "Study" part of the PDSA cycle helps the team to understand how a change action is or isn’t working.  It should be a structured conversation, anchored in data, to learn from what happened in order to revise your theory and inform your next actions.

Act

In the "Act" part of the PDSA cycle, the team uses what was learned from the cycle to decide on your next actions. Based on the evidence, as well as your goals and available alternatives, should you adopt, adapt, or abandon the change that you tested? What other information do you need to make this decision?

This page was last updated on July 1, 2025