BRIEFS AND BLUEPRINTS · VOLUME 1 OF 4 · 60 METHODS · OCT 2026

Scopes and Soundings

Briefs and Blueprints, volume one: framing the work and finding out. Sixty design methods for education and edtech, from frame and discover, each with its steps and a template to copy.

Eight stages, three tracks, four volumes

Each method sits under the stage where it is mainly used, in the order a project meets them. Three tracks of methods are used at any stage. The volumes follow the stages.

What it is, how to do it, and a template to copy

Every method is listed under its most widely used name. Its other names come first on the slide, so a search for any of them lands on the same entry; Appendix A lists every name in the set, with the volume that holds it.

Which practices use which methods

Each method carries tags for the practices that use it, from design research to policy design. Nineteen methods, such as the design brief, are used in every practice.

Four things left out on purpose

The toolkit holds methods: things a team can do, in steps, with something to show at the end. Ideas about how designers think, principles of good design, research instruments and organisational frameworks are each useful, and each lives somewhere else.

Frame

Setting the problem, aims, constraints and people involved. Twenty-five methods.

Twenty-five methods, by the question they answer

Each method on the stage answers one of these questions. The order of the questions is roughly the order a project meets them, but most projects return to an earlier question at least once.

Design brief

Alsocreative brief · project brief · design challenge brief

Problem statement

Alsoproblem definition · challenge statement · design challenge

Draft, test and revise until it holds up

Whose problem, what it is and why it matters, in a sentence or two.

Project canvas

Alsoopportunity canvas · project model canvas

Lean canvas

A nine-box adaptation of the business model canvas for new ventures (Maurya, 2012). Its boxes are problem, customer segments, unique value proposition, solution, channels, revenue streams, cost structure, key metrics and unfair advantage.

Business model canvas

A template of nine building blocks describing how an organisation creates, delivers and captures value: customer segments, value propositions, channels, customer relationships, revenue streams, key resources, key activities, key partners and cost structure (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010).

SWOT analysis

AlsoSWAM canvas (stars, wind, anchors, mines) · TOWS matrix

Innovation ambition matrix

Alsocore · adjacent · transformational matrix

Kick-off workshop

Alsoproject kick-off · inception workshop · chartering session

Team canvas

Alsoteam purpose map · team charter

Stakeholder map

Alsostakeholder analysis · actor map

Power–interest grid

Alsostakeholder matrix · Mendelow's matrix

Assumption mapping

Alsoassumption matrix · risky assumptions map

Test, update the map, then take the next assumption

Listing assumptions and ranking them by risk and evidence.

Hypothesis statement

Alsohypothesis card · "we believe" statement

Each result leads to one of three decisions

A testable statement of what will happen and how you'll know.

Critical items diagram

Alsocritical success factors map

Success criteria

Alsodefine success · measures of success · success metrics

Project design principles

Alsodesign criteria · guiding principles

Research plan

Alsoresearch brief · analysis questions builder · 5W+H questions

Ethics and consent planning

Alsoresearch ethics review · informed consent and assent

Two gates come before any research activity

Consent, assent and data handling, including for minors.

Needs analysis

Alsotraining needs analysis (TNA) · gap analysis · performance analysis

The cause decides whether learning is the right response

Peopleinstructional designer with stakeholders

Learner analysis

Alsoaudience analysis · learner profile

Context analysis

Alsoenvironmental analysis · learning context analysis

Learning outcome writing

Alsolearning objectives · intended learning outcomes (ILOs)

Backward design: desired results

AlsoUnderstanding by Design (UbD) stage 1

Problem tree

Alsoproblem tree analysis · cause and effect tree

Horizon scanning

Alsoenvironmental scanning · signal scanning

A repeating cycle that feeds strategy and scenarios

Timeongoing, reviewed monthly or quarterly

Discover

Learning about people, context and current practice. Thirty-five methods.

Thirty-five methods, by the question they answer

Each method on the stage answers one of these questions. The order of the questions is roughly the order a project meets them, but most projects return to an earlier question at least once.

Desk research

Alsosecondary research · literature scan

Evidence review

Alsorapid evidence assessment · literature review

Comparative analysis

Alsocompetitive benchmark · competitor analysis · feature comparison · usability benchmark · customer experience benchmark

Usage data review

Alsodata audit · analytics review

Content audit

Alsocontent inventory · ROT analysis (redundant, outdated, trivial)

Accessibility audit

Alsoaccessibility review · WCAG audit

Stakeholder interviews

Alsokey informant interviews

User interviews

Alsoin-depth interviews · semi-structured interviews · explorative interview · interview for empathy

Expert interviews

Alsosubject-matter expert (SME) interviews

Laddering interview

An interview technique that moves a participant from concrete attributes of a product, through the consequences they value, to the personal values behind them.

Five whys

Also5 whys · ask 5x why · why-why analysis

Contextual inquiry

Alsocontextual interview · in-situ interview

Classroom observation

Alsolesson observation · user observation · fly on the wall

AEIOU observation

A framework that organises observation notes into five categories: activities, environments, interactions, objects and users.

Shadowing

Alsoday in the life · follow-along

Peers observing peers

Users observe and record each other's practice, with a design team's support, which gives access to settings and detail that outsiders may not reach.

Learning walk

Alsolearning walkthrough · instructional rounds

Lesson study

Alsoresearch lesson · jugyō kenkyū

The lesson study cycle

Teachers co-plan, observe and refine a lesson together.

Diary study

Alsoexperience sampling · camera study

Entries and check-ins repeat across the study period

Peopleresearcher and 8 to 15 participants

Cultural probes

Alsodesign probes · probe kits

Photo elicitation

Participants take photos in response to prompts, then discuss them in an interview. Photovoice is a participatory version used for community advocacy.

Emotional response cards

A set of cards showing emotions, as words or faces, from which participants choose to describe how an experience felt.

Focus group

A moderated discussion with six to ten participants that explores opinions and reactions through group interaction.

Survey

Alsoquestionnaire · online survey

Extreme users

Alsolead users · edge-case users

Students as researchers

Alsostudent voice research · youth participatory action research (YPAR)

An inquiry cycle led by students

Peoplestudent team and supporting adult

Service safari

The team goes into the field to experience a service, and similar services, at first hand, recording what happens at each touchpoint and talking to people using it.

Mystery shopping

Alsomystery shopper · self-experience

Task analysis

Alsohierarchical task analysis (HTA)

Cognitive task analysis

Methods for uncovering the knowledge, judgements and cues that experts use but often cannot describe, so that they can be taught or supported. The critical decision method is a common form.

Curriculum mapping

Alsocurriculum audit · scope and sequence review

Behavioural mapping

Alsospace use observation · place-centred mapping

Support ticket analysis

Alsofeedback mining · voice of the customer analysis

Social listening

Monitoring public conversation about a service, such as social media, forums and news comments, to track themes and sentiment.

Trend analysis

Alsotrend research · STEEP scan · PESTLE scan · PESTLE canvas · trend boards

Next: Clusters and concepts

Volume 2, Clusters and Concepts: making sense of what was found, and generating options. Sixty-five methods.

Nineteen works

The methods are the source’s own, checked against nine books on design thinking and practice. Where a method rests on a published source, the entry names it and the reference list gives it.

Every method in this volume is indexed, with what it is and its other names, at https://www.geraldajam.com/library/glossary/playbooks/briefs-and-blueprints-vol-1.