Major Assignment 1: Client and Service Discovery

Points: 50

Format: Team Assignment

Purpose

Your team will investigate Wellspring to identify a meaningful communication or service problem. At this stage, your goal is not to design the solution.

Your goal is to determine:

You will use client discovery, stakeholder perspectives, existing-service analysis, and service mapping to develop an evidence-supported project direction.

Wellspring has shared several initial concerns:

• The community does not seem to fully understand how the space can be used.

• Nonprofit organizations are allowed to use the facility, but Wellspring would like to see more of them doing so.

• Wellspring imagines the facility somewhat like a community co-working or collaboration space, but current use does not fully match that vision.

• The facility has unused capacity.

• Wellspring would like to host more community events and collaborations.

• The website becomes stale because content is not updated consistently.

• Staff would like an easier way to keep website information current.

These are starting points, not your final problem statement.

Your Task

Investigate Wellspring and determine what appears to be contributing to the gap between:

and

Your team should investigate both the frontstage experience and the backstage systems that support it. Remember the process from our discovery workshop:

You are expected to revise your understanding as new evidence becomes available.

Discovery Requirements

Your team will use several sources of evidence to investigate the problem.

At minimum, your evidence should include:

1. Client-provided information

   Information Wellspring has already shared, along with responses to discovery questions developed by the class.

2. Existing communication/service review

   Examine Wellspring’s current website, social media, event information, forms, processes, or other available materials.

3. User or stakeholder perspective

   Gather at least one perspective from someone who currently uses, could use, or interacts with this type of community space or service.

Other useful evidence might include:

• Facility walkthroughs

• Observation

• Event information

• Existing forms or processes

• Additional stakeholder conversations

• Other relevant sources

Each team member should contribute at least one meaningful piece of evidence or analysis.

What You Will Submit

Submit one Client and Service Discovery Report per team.

Keep the report concise and visual where appropriate.

1. Client Problem Overview

Briefly explain:

• What Wellspring initially told us

• What your team investigated

• What problem now appears most important

2. Users and Stakeholders

Identify the major groups connected to the problem.

For each group, explain:

• Who they are

• What they need or want

• Why their perspective matters

You do not need to create personas.

3. Client Evidence

Identify 3–5 pieces of information from Wellspring that significantly influenced your understanding of the project.

For each, briefly explain:

• What you learned

• What it confirmed, challenged, or changed

• What new question it raised, if any

Do not simply repeat what the client said. Explain why the information matters.

4. Evidence and Findings

Present 3–5 major findings from your discovery.

For each finding, show:

Evidence → What It Suggests → Why It Matters

Example

Evidence: Several nonprofit representatives did not know Wellspring’s space was available to outside organizations.

What it suggests: Awareness may include confusion about who the facility is intended for.

Why it matters: Increasing promotion may not be enough if people still do not understand whether they are eligible to use the space.

5. Current-State Service Map

Choose one important user goal and map the current experience.

Include:

User Goal → Frontstage → Backstage → People/Role → Workflow → Data

Your map should represent how the service appears to work now, not how you think it should work in the future.

6. Problem Statement

Write one clear statement describing the problem your team believes deserves further attention.

A useful format is:

Do not name a specific technology or design solution.

7. Opportunity Areas

Identify 3 potential areas for improvement.

These should remain broad enough to allow different solutions later.

Good:Make it easier for nonprofit organizations to understand how Wellspring can support their activities.

Too specific:Build an online room-booking system.

8. Remaining Questions

Identify 2–3 important things you still do not know.

Briefly explain why each could affect future project decisions.

Discovery Checkpoint

Before the final submission, your team will share:

• Your current understanding of the problem

• Important assumptions

• Your strongest evidence so far

• One question you still need to answer

Be prepared to answer:

Grading — 50 Points

Discovery Evidence — 10 points

Uses multiple appropriate sources and distinguishes evidence from assumptions.

Users and Stakeholders — 5 points

Identifies the groups most relevant to the problem and explains why they matter.

Current-State Service Map — 10 points

Clearly connects the user experience to backstage actions, roles, workflow, and data.

Findings and Analysis — 10 points

Presents 3–5 meaningful findings supported by evidence and explains their implications.

Problem Statement + Opportunity Areas — 10 points

Defines an evidence-supported problem and identifies useful opportunity areas without prematurely choosing a solution.

Clarity and Professional Presentation — 5 points

Report is organized, readable, concise, and appropriate for a client-facing project.

Before You Submit

• ☐ We used evidence rather than relying on assumptions.

• ☐ We considered both users and stakeholders.

• ☐ We examined both frontstage and backstage issues.

• ☐ Our findings are supported by evidence.

• ☐ Our service map shows the current system.

• ☐ Our problem statement describes a problem rather than a solution.

• ☐ Our opportunity areas leave room for multiple possible solutions.

• ☐ We identified questions that still need investigation.

The Main Goal

By the end of this assignment, your team should be able to say: