Who are your users? stakeholder mapping worksheet
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Map the people you need to understand before moving ahead
Have you ever been in a project where people say they are being user-centred, but nobody is completely clear on who the users actually are?
It often happens.
Teams often start with a rough idea of the people involved, but that picture is usually incomplete. The obvious users may be named early on, while other important groups get missed entirely. That can include people with very different needs, the staff delivering the service, people who support users behind the scenes, or wider organisations that shape the experience.
This worksheet is designed to help teams step back and map out the people involved in a service before moving ahead.
It helps create a more complete picture of who uses and delivers the service, who influences their experience, and who you most need to hear from early in discovery. It can also help you sense-check whether your discovery has been broad enough, and plan who to involve when testing a prototype.
What this worksheet helps teams do
This tool helps teams to:
identify the core groups who use the service
map the frontline staff who deliver the service
make visible the people and organisations connected to both
prioritise who to involve in user research and early engagement
spot gaps in who they have heard from so far
That clarity can make a big difference. It helps teams avoid designing around a partial picture of the service and makes it easier to plan research, engagement and testing with the right people in mind.
Who is it for?
This worksheet is best used by a team.
It works well at the start of a piece of work, during discovery, when planning prototype testing, or when joining a project later and wanting to check whether the right people have been considered. It is especially useful in team meetings and facilitated workshops where you want to build a shared picture of the people affected by a service.
It is most valuable when there is a strong focus on understanding core users and frontline staff properly, while also recognising the wider network of people and organisations around them.
How to use it
Bring together a group of people with knowledge of the service or a stake in the work.
Use the worksheet to map:
the different groups of people who use the service
the staff or teams who directly deliver it
people who influence or support users
people who influence or support frontline staff
wider organisations, partners or systems connected to the service
It is particularly useful for identifying distinct user groups, including people with very different needs or circumstances, and then stepping back to decide which groups matter most to involve early.
As with any worksheet, the value is not just in what gets written down. It is in the conversation it creates.
Used well, this tool can help a team move from a vague idea of “the user” to a clearer, shared view of who they most need to understand.
How it works alongside Frame the challenge
This worksheet pairs well with Frame the challenge worksheet.
Frame the challenge helps a team get clear on the problem, align around purpose and define success.
Who are your users? stakeholder mapping worksheet helps a team go deeper into the people part of that conversation by mapping who uses the service, who delivers it, and who else needs to be considered or involved.
Used together, they can help a team get clear on the challenge and make better decisions about who they need to hear from.
Tried and tested in practice
We use this worksheet regularly in Service Design in Practice to help teams think more carefully about who they need to understand and involve.
Request the worksheet
Get the worksheet sent to your inbox by completing the form.
It is available as a PDF you can use digitally or print for team discussion in meetings and workshops.
This worksheet is shared under a Creative Commons licence CC BY-SA 4.0 so you can freely use it in your own work. All we ask is that you say where you got if from. If you use it and find a way to improve it, we’d love to hear about it.
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