Stakeholders and Need Finding

≈ 38 min

Stakeholders and Need Finding

A stakeholder is anyone affected by a system or able to affect its success — not only the end user. Users, maintainers, funders, regulators and nearby communities can each hold different, sometimes conflicting needs. Need finding uses observation and interview evidence instead of assuming the engineer already understands the problem.

Worked example. A rural clinic asks for "a bigger water tank." Observing the site shows the real problem is pressure at the 7 a.m. peak, not total volume — the tank empties fast, then refills slowly overnight. A bigger tank would mask the symptom without fixing the cause; a pressure-boosting pump or a staggered-use roster addresses the actual need.

Core checkpoint: Separate what people say, what is observed and what is inferred — a stated request is evidence of a need, not the need itself.

Which statement best captures the core distinction this lesson makes about a stakeholder's request?

A stated request is evidence of a need, not the need itself — confirm the underlying need before committing to a fix.

A stated request should be built exactly as described, without further investigation.

Only the end user's stated requests count as evidence; other stakeholders can be ignored.

Observation is less reliable than a direct request, so interviews should be skipped.

What term names anyone affected by a system, or able to affect its success — not only its end user?

A community says they want a bigger water tank, but a site visit shows the tank empties every morning at peak use and refills slowly overnight. What is the best next step?

Treat the request as a clue, and investigate whether the real need is reliable peak-time pressure rather than total volume.

Install the bigger tank immediately, since the community stated the requirement directly.

Reject the request because site data was not part of the original brief.

Ask a different stakeholder the same closed question until the answer matches the request.

A funder wants a school computer lab built exactly to their own specification, but the teachers who will run the lab were never consulted. What is the strongest concern from a need-finding perspective?

The funder is one stakeholder among several; a design built only to their specification risks missing needs held by the teachers who will actually run the lab.

None — the funder is paying, so their specification is automatically the most important need.

Teachers are not real stakeholders since they did not request the project.

Consultation is only necessary once the lab is already built, to gather feedback.