Discovery and Communication Basics

Discovery and Listening Fundamentals

A.Open questions·for example, "Walk me through how this is handled today" — surface far more useful information than closed questions such as "Is this a problem?"
B.A new OFA should prepare two or three open questions before any conversation where they are expected to gather information, rather than relying on improvisation.
C.A closed question invites a single-word answer that can technically be true while still hiding the real situation (for example, "yes, it's working," from someone who has quietly built a manual workaround); an open question invites the stakeholder to describe what actually happens, which is where those hidden workarounds tend to surface.
D.Useful open-question starters include "walk me through," "tell me about," and "what happens when," each of which asks for a description rather than a verdict.

II.

A.Restating what was heard, in the OFA's own words, and asking the stakeholder to confirm or correct it, is one of the single most valuable habits a new OFA can build.
B.It catches misunderstandings while they are still cheap to fix, rather than after documentation has been built on a wrong assumption.
C.A simple pattern for this is "What I'm hearing is [restatement] — is that right?" which gives the stakeholder an easy, low-friction way to correct a misunderstanding on the spot.
D.This habit matters most immediately after a stakeholder has described something complex or used a term the OFA is not fully certain about, since that is exactly where a small misunderstanding is most likely to occur.

III.

A.This builds directly on Module 1's introduction to notes as a stewardship.
B.The practical habit is to separate three categories in real time while taking notes.

Notes that blend these three categories together are far less useful even if every word said was captured accurately.

IV.

A.The real responsibilities of this role do not stop at asking good questions privately; they also call for an OFA to encourage a culture of user-centered design and knowledge sharing among peers.
B.At the OFA 1 level, this means two habits beyond simply doing good discovery work well.

1.During discovery, keep the actual user's lived experience in view, not just the system's internal logic.
2.An open question like "walk me through what happens today" is itself a user-centered design habit, because it starts from real experience rather than assumed system behavior.

1.If a discovery technique, a well-phrased open question, or a habit for confirming understanding works well, mention it to a peer or a fellow new OFA rather than treating it as a private advantage.
2.An OFA 1 is an individual contributor, but "individual contributor" does not mean "works in isolation."
3.Modeling good discovery and communication practice for peers, and being willing to explain why a habit works rather than only using it silently, is itself part of the job description at this level, not something that begins only once an OFA starts supervising others.

A.At OFA 2, an OFA begins facilitating simple discussions directly - becoming responsible for the conversation reaching a useful outcome within the time available, not just for listening well within it.
B.That is a distinct, later skill built directly on the listening and note-preserving habits this module develops.
C.It is not expected of an OFA 1.