The report nobody opens
A school builds a screen of numbers for its teachers. The numbers say it works. But teachers still ask the office for the figures.
Numbers cannot say why. To find out, you must watch, listen and ask people. Five tools help you do that.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Observation report | a written note of what an observer saw people do, with the time and place |
| User story | one sentence saying who needs something, what they need and why |
| Diary | a record a user keeps over days of how they used something and how it went |
| Scenario map | a picture of the steps of a real situation, showing where it goes wrong |
| Self-assessment | a team rating itself against a list of statements |
| Dashboard | one screen that shows the main numbers of a business |
| Framework | a set of statements or steps used as a guide |
| Maturity | how well developed and reliable a way of working is |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can describe five tools that gather views from people, and choose one for a task.
Starter
Have a go
Starter
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Five tools that listen to people
| Tool | What it is | Data-work example |
|---|---|---|
| Observation report | Notes on what you saw, with time and place | Watching a teacher open the dashboard on Monday at 8:50 |
| User story | "As a ..., I want ..., so that ..." | As a teacher, I want last week's marks on one screen, so that I can plan |
| Diary | A user records their own use over days | A teacher notes each time the dashboard helped or failed |
| Scenario map | The steps of a real situation, shown as a picture | From "needs a figure" to "gets the figure" |
| Self-assessment framework | A team rates itself against statements | "We check our data every month": 1 to 4 |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Observation reports, user stories and diaries
An observation report records what you saw, with time and place, and keeps opinions apart. A user story has three parts: who, what and why. A diary is kept by the user, so you see their real week, not your guess.
All three give you the voice of the user.
Worked example: a user story and a diary
| Tool | Example |
|---|---|
| User story | As a teacher, I want last week's marks on one screen, so that I can plan my lesson. |
| Diary, Monday | Dashboard slow, 4 minutes. Rang the office. |
| Diary, Wednesday | Dashboard quick. Found the marks at once. |
| Pattern | Slow on Mondays at 9:00, when many staff log in. |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Quick check
Have a go
Quick check
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.