The HCD Technical Report

Title page: report title, project name, team members and authors, date.

Executive summary: a short overview of the design challenge, the process, the key findings and the recommended solutions. Use plain language aimed at decision-makers. Include:

• Your primary design challenge, as a How Might We question, and the part of it your team took on.
• Your unique value proposition: why this solution is different and how it answers the challenge.
• Market and chosen segments: who wants or needs it and why it is desirable.
• A short statement of business potential: desirable, feasible, viable and sustainable.
• Your solution and main recommendations.

The template says the front matter is read first but written last.

Research problem and context works as your introduction. Show the problem is real, timely and grounded in lived experience. Name the specific problem, who experiences it (in human language, not job codes), why it matters now, and how it surfaced through interviews or observation instead of being assumed.

Users and perspectives shows you listened to more than one kind of person. Name primary users, secondary or edge users (new users, experienced users, administrators, caregivers, support staff) and the differences in their needs, constraints and expectations. Personas or a stakeholder map can help.

Multivocality does not mean everyone agreed. The template points out that disagreement often produces the most useful insights.

Research approach (methods). Include a short literature review with citations (academic articles, industry reports, case studies). Name your qualitative methods and why they fit. Say who took part and how, how many people and how many rounds, and your limitations. Sincerity means you do not overstate. Rich rigor means you went back more than once, not that you had a big sample.

Credibility of findings. Show triangulation (more than one source, method or moment) and crystallization (where people saw it differently and what that taught you).

Key insights. 3 to 5 insights grounded in patterns, each with brief evidence and why it matters.

• Resonance and transferability: why people in the context would recognize your insights, and where else they could apply, with limits.
• Design response: what you designed, how someone uses it, which insight drove each element, and why it beats current alternatives. The template invites you to have fun here.
• Prototyping, testing and iteration: what you tested, with whom, how you gathered feedback, and what changed, including ideas you dropped.
• Desirability, feasibility, viability, sustainability and ethics: grounded desirability, real constraints, who funds and maintains it, who benefits and who bears the cost, your Value Proposition Canvas, Business Model Canvas and revenue or funding model, the triple bottom line, and how you respected participants. A chart can work well here.
• Key takeaway and theory of change: the most important learning and why it matters. Optional: “If we [action], then [outcome] becomes more likely for [group], because [insight].”

• Conclusion and recommendations: summary of findings, strategic recommendations, and what to explore or iterate next.
• References: alphabetical, APA format, including Tracy (2010).
• Appendices: interview guides, raw data, detailed analysis, visuals, glossary. Label each one and reference it in the text.
• AI Utilization Statement: if your team used AI, say which tools, every way you used them, and how you refined the results through your own research and analysis. Sign it and add a short reflection on AI as a research tool. Never put confidential client data into public AI tools.

The HCD Technical Report Checklist is a tracking tool. It also lists a few items worth checking against your draft:

• An Introduction: purpose and relevance, background, why the design challenge is happening, objectives and scope.
• A Context section built on the Value Proposition Canvas (user profile, jobs to be done, pains and gains, pain relievers and gain creators) plus business, systems, cultural and ethical, environmental, technological and team context.
• An HCD research methodology by phase: Inspiration (literature review, understanding the problem, generative action research), Ideation (generating ideas, prototype description), Implementation (testing, iteration, deployment plan with the Business Model Canvas) and Impact Assessment (define success).

Use the template’s outline for your headings and make sure the checklist items show up somewhere. If the two seem to disagree, ask Lane or Jules.

• [ ] Every template heading is present and in order.
• [ ] Executive summary covers challenge, value proposition, segments, business potential and recommendations.
• [ ] Problem is specific, human and shows how it surfaced through listening.
• [ ] Primary and edge users are named, with real differences.
• [ ] Literature review has citations.
• [ ] Methods, participants, number of rounds and limitations are stated plainly.
• [ ] Each insight explains why and has evidence from more than one source.
• [ ] Every design element traces to an insight.
• [ ] Testing section says what changed, including what you dropped.
• [ ] Value Proposition Canvas, Business Model Canvas and revenue or funding model are included.
• [ ] Ethics: how participants were respected and what risks remain.
• [ ] References are alphabetical APA, including Tracy (2010).
• [ ] Appendices are labeled and referenced in the text.
• [ ] AI Utilization Statement is complete and signed.