Practice
The first nineteen exercises develop the same fictional clinic case. Each adds an artifact you can review against specific criteria. The final case applies the complete method to a library service.
Open a case to use the evidence packet, make the requested artifact, and review your reasoning.
20 cases
Situation: Receptionists use a queue that refreshes roughly every 90 seconds. Mira may ask them about her status while the queue catches up.
Make: A one-page task map showing Mira, the kiosk, the service receipt, the staff queue, and the waiting instruction.
The map starts with Mira's goal, follows the information through each handoff, and ends with a clear next step for her.Situation: The kiosk receives a receipt while the reception queue still shows an older view.
Make: An annotated sequence for ready, sending, received, and delayed states, with exact status language.
Each message corresponds to a named state, and Mira can identify what action belongs next.Situation: A patient who uses a wheelchair and a screen reader arrives during a busy morning session.
Make: A barrier-and-route map covering perception, operation, understanding, and completion.
The routes reach the same appointment outcome and give the patient a clear confirmation in the lobby setting.Situation: A patient finishes check-in at a shared kiosk while another person waits behind them.
Make: A three-moment trust review and an annotated confirmation screen.
The design explains purpose, displays a verified status, supports correction, and protects the shared screen.Situation: At 09:18 another patient reads the kiosk receipt, walks to the waiting area, and returns to reception after an announcement names a different patient.
Make: A structured field note with event times, evidence labels, and a next question.
The note preserves the order of events and gives each observation, report, and interpretation its own label.Situation: The clinic also records patients who begin check-in and later complete it with reception staff.
Make: A question-to-evidence matrix with source, expected signal, limitation, and decision consequence.
The plan connects a practical decision to multiple complementary sources and states the limits of each.Situation: Another patient reads a wall sign saying 'Tell reception when you arrive' and then approaches the kiosk.
Make: A cause map with symptom, three hypotheses, supporting facts, and discriminating checks.
The cause map keeps observed facts distinct from explanations and selects checks that can shift the decision.Situation: Reception staff also report that the entrance sign directs some patients toward the desk before they reach the kiosk.
Make: A concise problem statement with an evidence ledger and one priority research question.
The statement names the patient task, the observed difficulty, the consequence, and a meaningful uncertainty.Situation: During an appointment delay, reception updates the queue and Mira receives a message on her phone.
Make: A patient journey and a focused check-in flow with one delayed branch and named owners.
The map connects Mira's visible information to the system and staff events that support it.Situation: The clinic considers adding a printed ticket as another confirmation route.
Make: A three-option comparison table and a provisional recommendation tied to the criteria.
The recommendation follows stated criteria and names evidence that could change it.Situation: A request takes longer than the usual sending interval, and the kiosk retains Mira's entered code.
Make: A state table for ready, entered, sending, received, delayed, correction, and reset.
Every displayed claim has a trigger, a source of truth, an available action, and a next state.Situation: The team also wants to learn whether Mira notices the shared kiosk clearing her appointment details after check-in.
Make: A prototype brief with represented states, scripted behavior, participant task, observation, and study boundary.
The prototype supports the stated question and makes its simulated behavior explicit.Situation: The prototype also includes a delayed state with a visible reception-help route.
Make: Two testable hypotheses with observable benefits, costs, and challenging evidence.
Each claim connects a specific design change to a patient behavior and a realistic tradeoff.Situation: The team plans a round with a patient who uses a screen reader and a round during a noisy morning period.
Make: A one-page study plan with participants, task prompts, branch script, observations, and completion rule.
The tasks represent the patient goal and the observations answer the decision question.Situation: In the same study, one patient uses reception after reading the received message because the entrance sign asks arriving patients to tell staff.
Make: Two finding cards with observation, consequence, interpretation, and next check.
The findings describe the supplied sessions accurately and keep possible causes open for investigation.Situation: A patient sees the revised pending message during a busy session and chooses the reception-help route.
Make: A findings-to-change table with revised copy, test tasks, observations, and a next decision rule.
The revision addresses a specific observation and the retest examines both understanding and added effort.Situation: The clinic's evening reception team has fewer staff members and a longer response time for status questions.
Make: A staged release memo with patient status, dependencies, owners, checks, and a pause condition.
The plan gives patients an accurate current route and assigns ownership to every supporting service step.Situation: A patient has changed phone numbers since registration and asks reception for an appointment update.
Make: A service blueprint fragment with patient, channel, staff, system, and recovery rows.
The blueprint connects every patient promise to a current service event and an owner across channels.Situation: Four weeks after launch, reception logs show fewer status questions during the morning and a similar number during evening sessions.
Make: A one-page decision record with linked evidence, alternatives, recommendation, owners, and review trigger.
A colleague can follow the chain from patient evidence to choice and see the condition for revisiting it.Situation: The independent case dossier includes a changed room assignment, a member who uses staff help, and an evening arrival after the desk closes.
Make: A reviewable service decision dossier with map, evidence, problem, alternatives, states, test, and owner-led follow-up.
The proposal connects supplied evidence to a coherent member journey, accurate status, accessible help, and a testable decision.