The analysis of the documentation on effectiveness allows to establish an important variability in the way the effectiveness of a program is defined and measured. How can we verify if differents actors of a same program conceptualize the effectiveness of a program in the same way? Following the collaboration of 35 actors from an organization in the health field in the Québec City area, 20 simulated programs were developped. An overview of the conceptual framework that served as the basis for the 20 simulations, a description of the simulations including a summary of the process used to develop it and a report of the data regarding the preexperimentation of the program simulations are presented. The 20 simulations were found to be valid and a practical instrument that allows the observation of the behavior of the actors in a situation of evaluation of the effectiveness of a program, and from there, capturing the conception of the effectiveness favoured by these actors. The possible applications of the simulation approach in other contexts of evaluation will be presented.