Using the 5Ws Framework: Who

Let’s take a look at how to use the “who” of the 5Ws framework to define problems and gather requirements for a digital transformation initiative.

For starters, who are the stakeholders for the feature or project?

• Employees

• Partners

• Customers

• Anonymous

As we go from the bottom to the top of that list, we know more about and have greater influence over how those stakeholders are engaged and adopt change.

In the case of anonymous, we likely have little data with which we can make decisions. These might be website users that have not taken an action (e.g. submitting a form, clicking a referral link from an email) or are visiting an in-person experience.

Within our stakeholder groups, RACI is a helpful way to stratify by involvement level down to sub-groups or individuals.

• Responsible: people doing the work

• Accountable: people that answer for the work having been done

• Consulted: people providing input based on experience or expertise

• Informed: people looped into updates about progress and changes

Constraints are also important to consider.

A stakeholder's familiarity with patterns (e.g. "swiping left and right") and metaphors (e.g. "we're the Uber for dogs") is just as important as knowing their fluency in languages (i.e. read, written, spoken) and vernacular (i.e. industry terms, organizational jargon).

Accessibility needs is another critical component. Here are a handful of items to consider:

• Use of screen readers

• Information density

• Zoom levels

• Color blindness

• Neurodiversity

Finally, who is responsible for maintaining and evolving the changes implemented? Is the intent to have the organization or team be self-reliant or have a partial or complete dependency?

TLDR: Ask who questions to identify stakeholders, define involvement, and learn about their constraints.