Lines of questioning — Discovery design

Point 2 — Solve a whole problem for users

Ask:

• Walk the as-is journey from the moment the user realises they have this task to the moment they believe it is finished.
• Which steps are off-system: a spreadsheet, a shared inbox, a paper form, a visit, an agent?
• Where does the user repeat information they have already given, and to whom?
• What fails on that journey today, and which failure is the department's to fix versus someone else's?
• Show the future-state pictures you have. Why do they exist in Discovery, and what decision are they not allowed to settle?

Evidence to request: an as-is service map, examples of workarounds (redacted), a list of steps owned outside the team.

Answers that indicate Met: the map contains the awkward middle, not only the official process. The team has watched the workaround happen.

Answers that indicate Not Met: the only map is a future service blueprint or a set of wireframes. Red line D2 applies.

Point 3 — Provide a joined-up experience across all channels

Ask:

• What channels exist today, and which cohorts depend on each one?
• What does the phone script say, and does it match the guidance on GOV.UK?
• What happens to a paper form, and how long does that take compared with the digital route?
• When a user starts online and finishes by phone, what does the member of staff already know?
• Which third parties (employers, local authorities, advice agencies) stand between the user and the department?

Evidence to request: channel inventory, a contact-centre visit note, a comparison of guidance against operational practice.

Answers that indicate Met: the team has been to the channel that handles the exceptions, and they can describe a contradiction between channels.

Answers that indicate Not Met: non-digital channels are "out of scope for the design work". Nobody has listened to a call.

Premature-design probe

If the pack leads with a prototype, ask:

• What did this prototype teach you that a conversation in the current service could not?
• Who has been shown it, and do they believe it is the service you will build?

If stakeholders are already reacting to it as the answer, flag D2, even if the research notes are good.