Method guides
Each guide says what the method is, when to use it and when not to, and how to run it with your team, step by step, with a worked example.
Understand
23 guides- Stakeholder interviewsAsk one person about one recent, real experience, write down their words, and keep what you saw apart from what you think it means.
- Contextual observationSit beside someone doing a real task in their own place of work, write down what they do without advising them, and name only the obstacles your notes can prove.
- Diary studyChoose one activity that keeps happening, ask a small group to log every occurrence for a few weeks, and compare the entries to find the pattern.
- Card sortingWrite one item per card, let people group them without any hints, then compare their labels and disagreements to see how they expect things to be organised.
- Experience mapping (journey map)Lay out a real journey moment by moment, note what the person does and needs at each one, and tie every moment to evidence you have gathered.
- Stakeholder mapList everyone who affects or is affected by the work, note what they care about and how much they can shape it, and decide when you will next speak to each.
- Five whys (5 whys)Start from a problem you have actually observed, ask why each explanation is true, and stop where the evidence ends with a clear way to check it.
- Fishbone diagram (Ishikawa)Write one precise unwanted effect at the head, group every possible cause into families along the bones, and test the likely causes instead of declaring them.
- SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats)Separate what you control from what you do not, back each entry with evidence, and finish with the strategic questions it raises.
- PESTLE analysisA structured look outside your walls, so the team plans for the world as it is becoming rather than the world it remembers.
- Stakeholder expectations mapWrite down what you think each group expects, check how you know it, and research the groups you understand least.
- Scenario matrix (2x2 scenarios)Pick the two uncertainties that matter most, imagine the four worlds they create, and look for the moves that work in all of them.
- Competitive forces analysis (Five Forces)Look at the five sources of pressure around your service, back each one with evidence, and leave with the strategic questions that matter.
- Value chain analysisLay out every activity that turns inputs into value for your users, then find where cost, strength and dependency point to a change.
- BenchmarkingCompare one measure with a fair comparator, line up definitions and periods, and say what the comparison cannot tell you.
- Pareto analysis (Pareto chart)Count events the same way, rank categories from most to least frequent, and look first where most of the problem sits.
- Process flowchart (process map)Draw the sequence of steps and decisions with the people who do the work, then check the map against real cases.
- Retrospective (team retro)Look back at a finished piece of work, gather observations before discussing them, and leave with a small number of owned improvements.
- Empathy mapStraight after an interview, sort what you heard and saw into what the person says, thinks, does and feels.
- System mapDraw the service as a system: who and what is involved, in rings around the person it serves, and what flows between them.
- Ecosystem mapStep back from one service and draw the whole field: the organisations involved, what each one gives and gets, and where value is lost.
- Mind mapPut one topic in the middle of the page and let everything connected to it branch outwards, so you can see the whole subject before you choose a path.
- Service safariGo out and use real services yourselves, your own and other people's, and bring back what it actually feels like.
Frame
27 guides- Card sortingWrite one item per card, let people group them without any hints, then compare their labels and disagreements to see how they expect things to be organised.
- Experience mapping (journey map)Lay out a real journey moment by moment, note what the person does and needs at each one, and tie every moment to evidence you have gathered.
- Five whys (5 whys)Start from a problem you have actually observed, ask why each explanation is true, and stop where the evidence ends with a clear way to check it.
- Fishbone diagram (Ishikawa)Write one precise unwanted effect at the head, group every possible cause into families along the bones, and test the likely causes instead of declaring them.
- Affinity grouping (affinity diagram)Read every observation in silence, group the notes that belong together, and name each pattern while keeping the original evidence underneath it.
- Problem tree analysisWrite the central problem on the trunk, put causes below and consequences above, and check every link you draw before you trust it.
- How might we questionsTurn a need you have evidence for into one open question your team can answer in many ways.
- Point of view statementSay in one sentence who you are designing for, what they need, and why that need matters.
- Assumption mappingList what must be true for your idea to work, then test the beliefs that matter most and are least proven.
- SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats)Separate what you control from what you do not, back each entry with evidence, and finish with the strategic questions it raises.
- PESTLE analysisA structured look outside your walls, so the team plans for the world as it is becoming rather than the world it remembers.
- Stakeholder expectations mapWrite down what you think each group expects, check how you know it, and research the groups you understand least.
- Scenario matrix (2x2 scenarios)Pick the two uncertainties that matter most, imagine the four worlds they create, and look for the moves that work in all of them.
- Three horizonsSee what is fading, what is emerging and what sits between, then choose the experiments that move you from one to the next.
- OGSM (Objective, Goals, Strategies, Measures)One direction, a handful of numbers, the few approaches you will take, and the signs that show they are working, all on a single page.
- Strategic choice cascadeTreat a strategy as a chain of linked choices, compare two or three complete chains, and find the assumption each one rests on.
- Competitive forces analysis (Five Forces)Look at the five sources of pressure around your service, back each one with evidence, and leave with the strategic questions that matter.
- Value chain analysisLay out every activity that turns inputs into value for your users, then find where cost, strength and dependency point to a change.
- Force field analysisPut a proposed change in the middle, list what pushes it forward and what holds it back, and act on the barriers that matter most.
- Opportunity solution treeStart from one measurable outcome, branch into opportunities you have evidence for, and test solutions with small experiments.
- Business Model CanvasDescribe on one page who a service is for, what it gives them, what it takes to run and how it is paid for.
- Value Proposition CanvasCheck, point by point, whether what you offer one group of people matches what they are trying to do.
- Personas (user personas)Turn the patterns in your research into a few people the whole team can picture and design for.
- Empathy mapStraight after an interview, sort what you heard and saw into what the person says, thinks, does and feels.
- Service blueprintLay the customer's steps across the top, then show everything the organisation does, in sight and out of sight, to make each step happen.
- System mapDraw the service as a system: who and what is involved, in rings around the person it serves, and what flows between them.
- Touchpoint matrixLay the steps of a journey across the top, the channels down the side, and see where the service is missing, doubled or dropped between them.
Generate
14 guides- How might we questionsTurn a need you have evidence for into one open question your team can answer in many ways.
- Crazy 8s sketchingFold a sheet into eight, sketch eight different answers in eight minutes, then share them without selling.
- BrainwritingWrite ideas in silence, pass them on for others to extend, and keep the alternatives before you choose.
- SCAMPER techniqueTake a service you already run and try seven kinds of change on it, one at a time.
- Worst possible ideaAsk for the worst ideas you can think of, work out why they fail, then turn the failure around.
- Analogous inspiration (analogies)Find someone else who has already solved a problem like yours, take the principle, and check where it stops fitting.
- Lotus blossom techniquePut one challenge in the centre, open it into eight themes, then open each theme into eight ideas.
- Design studio (sketch, critique, revise)Everyone sketches, everyone gets honest feedback, and the best parts of each idea survive into the next round.
- Storyboard (service storyboarding)Draw the new service as a sequence of moments in someone's real life, and see what the story takes for granted.
- Opportunity solution treeStart from one measurable outcome, branch into opportunities you have evidence for, and test solutions with small experiments.
- Concept BlendingBorrow what people love about another service, and rebuild one moment of your own around it.
- Mind mapPut one topic in the middle of the page and let everything connected to it branch outwards, so you can see the whole subject before you choose a path.
- Service safariGo out and use real services yourselves, your own and other people's, and bring back what it actually feels like.
- Change cards ("what if" questions)Draw a provocative question, answer it for each idea on your shortlist, and keep the version that comes out stronger.
Choose
14 guides- Impact effort matrixPlace your options on one grid of impact and effort, with reasons, and see what deserves your next move.
- Design studio (sketch, critique, revise)Everyone sketches, everyone gets honest feedback, and the best parts of each idea survive into the next round.
- Dot voting (dotmocracy)A quick, visible way to see where a group leans before someone makes the call.
- Weighted decision matrix (weighted scoring model)Agree what matters before you look at the options, then let the evidence do the arguing.
- Now, How, Wow matrixSort your ideas into what you can do now, what needs working out, and what is both new and doable.
- Premortem (pre-mortem)Imagine it is a year from now and the project has failed. Now explain why.
- Strategic choice cascadeTreat a strategy as a chain of linked choices, compare two or three complete chains, and find the assumption each one rests on.
- Portfolio mapping (innovation portfolio map)Put every initiative on one map, compare them on the same scales, and leave with a clear decision for each one.
- Stop doing listMake room for what matters by deciding, out loud and on paper, what the team will no longer do.
- BenchmarkingCompare one measure with a fair comparator, line up definitions and periods, and say what the comparison cannot tell you.
- Force field analysisPut a proposed change in the middle, list what pushes it forward and what holds it back, and act on the barriers that matter most.
- Pareto analysis (Pareto chart)Count events the same way, rank categories from most to least frequent, and look first where most of the problem sits.
- Change cards ("what if" questions)Draw a provocative question, answer it for each idea on your shortlist, and keep the version that comes out stronger.
- Value casePut the argument for scaling a solution you have tested on one board that a decision maker can read in five minutes.
Test
14 guides- Assumption mappingList what must be true for your idea to work, then test the beliefs that matter most and are least proven.
- Paper prototypeDraw it on paper, hand it to a real user, and watch where they get stuck.
- Storyboard (service storyboarding)Draw the new service as a sequence of moments in someone's real life, and see what the story takes for granted.
- Role play (service role-playing)Act the service out in a room, and the gaps you could not see on paper start to show.
- Wizard of Oz test (Wizard of Oz prototyping)Users see a working service. Behind the curtain, a person is doing the work by hand.
- Concierge test (concierge MVP)Before you build anything, do the service yourself for a few people and see whether it actually helps.
- Moderated usability testSit beside one person, give them a real task, stay quiet, and watch where your service helps them and where it gets in the way.
- A/B experiment plan (A/B test plan)Agree what you are testing, how you will measure it and when you will stop, before a single person sees either version.
- Hypothesis testTake the belief your plan leans on most, write down what would prove it wrong, and find out with the smallest test that can tell you.
- Feedback capture gridStraight after a test, sort what you saw and heard into four boxes, attach the evidence, and leave knowing what to ask next.
- Failure modes analysis (FMEA)Go step by step through a process, ask how each step could fail, agree what that would mean, and act before it happens.
- Opportunity solution treeStart from one measurable outcome, branch into opportunities you have evidence for, and test solutions with small experiments.
- Value Proposition CanvasCheck, point by point, whether what you offer one group of people matches what they are trying to do.
- Challenge panelInvite a small group from outside the team to find the weak points in your plan while there is still time to fix them.
Plan
21 guides- Stakeholder mapList everyone who affects or is affected by the work, note what they care about and how much they can shape it, and decide when you will next speak to each.
- Impact effort matrixPlace your options on one grid of impact and effort, with reasons, and see what deserves your next move.
- Premortem (pre-mortem)Imagine it is a year from now and the project has failed. Now explain why.
- Roadmapping (outcome roadmap)Start from the outcome you want, work back to the milestones that get you there, and agree who owns each one and when you will look again.
- RACI matrix (responsibility assignment)List the work, give each item exactly one accountable role, and check the result with the people named before you call it agreed.
- Stakeholder communication planWork out what each group actually needs to know, send the least that does the job, and check that it arrived and made sense.
- Rollout checklist (launch readiness checklist)Write down what must be true before you go live, ask for proof that each item is done, and hold the launch if a critical one fails.
- KPI tree (driver tree)Put the outcome at the top, branch it into the things that plausibly drive it, give each a measure, and mark which links you still need to prove.
- Three horizonsSee what is fading, what is emerging and what sits between, then choose the experiments that move you from one to the next.
- Objectives and key results (OKRs)Say where you want to get to in words people care about, then agree the few numbers that will show you got there.
- OGSM (Objective, Goals, Strategies, Measures)One direction, a handful of numbers, the few approaches you will take, and the signs that show they are working, all on a single page.
- Portfolio mapping (innovation portfolio map)Put every initiative on one map, compare them on the same scales, and leave with a clear decision for each one.
- Stop doing listMake room for what matters by deciding, out loud and on paper, what the team will no longer do.
- Balanced scorecardLook beyond one headline number by choosing a few linked measures across four views of how the organisation is doing.
- Hoshin-style annual alignment (Hoshin Kanri)Turn long-term direction into a handful of annual priorities, agree who depends on whom, and set the reviews that keep the year on course.
- Process flowchart (process map)Draw the sequence of steps and decisions with the people who do the work, then check the map against real cases.
- Failure modes analysis (FMEA)Go step by step through a process, ask how each step could fail, agree what that would mean, and act before it happens.
- Business Model CanvasDescribe on one page who a service is for, what it gives them, what it takes to run and how it is paid for.
- Service blueprintLay the customer's steps across the top, then show everything the organisation does, in sight and out of sight, to make each step happen.
- User storiesDescribe what to build as small, testable needs written from the user's side, so the team builds the right thing and knows when it is done.
- Touchpoint matrixLay the steps of a journey across the top, the channels down the side, and see where the service is missing, doubled or dropped between them.
Scale
12 guides- Roadmapping (outcome roadmap)Start from the outcome you want, work back to the milestones that get you there, and agree who owns each one and when you will look again.
- RACI matrix (responsibility assignment)List the work, give each item exactly one accountable role, and check the result with the people named before you call it agreed.
- Stakeholder communication planWork out what each group actually needs to know, send the least that does the job, and check that it arrived and made sense.
- Rollout checklist (launch readiness checklist)Write down what must be true before you go live, ask for proof that each item is done, and hold the launch if a critical one fails.
- KPI tree (driver tree)Put the outcome at the top, branch it into the things that plausibly drive it, give each a measure, and mark which links you still need to prove.
- Objectives and key results (OKRs)Say where you want to get to in words people care about, then agree the few numbers that will show you got there.
- Balanced scorecardLook beyond one headline number by choosing a few linked measures across four views of how the organisation is doing.
- Hoshin-style annual alignment (Hoshin Kanri)Turn long-term direction into a handful of annual priorities, agree who depends on whom, and set the reviews that keep the year on course.
- Retrospective (team retro)Look back at a finished piece of work, gather observations before discussing them, and leave with a small number of owned improvements.
- Ecosystem mapStep back from one service and draw the whole field: the organisations involved, what each one gives and gets, and where value is lost.
- Value casePut the argument for scaling a solution you have tested on one board that a decision maker can read in five minutes.
- Challenge panelInvite a small group from outside the team to find the weak points in your plan while there is still time to fix them.
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