# New Project Discovery Canvas

> Copy this into Confluence, Notion, Word or your project workspace. Build it over your first 30 days — it's a working document, not a form to complete in one sitting.

## 1. Project Purpose

**We are improving:**

**For:**

**Because:**

**So that:**

**Why now?**

**What happens if we do nothing?**

**How will success be measured?**

## 2. People and Decisions

**Sponsor:**

**Business outcome owner:**

**Product owner:**

**Operational SMEs:**

**Technology owners:**

**QA / UAT owners:**

**Risk / Compliance / Security:**

**Support owner after release:**

**Who makes the final decision when people disagree?**

## 3. Current Process

**Trigger:**

**Main steps:**

**People involved:**

**Manual workarounds:**

**Waiting points:**

**Common failures:**

## 4. Target Change

**What should change?**

**What should remain unchanged?**

**Expected user outcome:**

**Expected business outcome:**

## 5. Systems and Data

**Systems involved:**

**System of record:**

**Important data:**

**Data owners:**

**Integrations:**

**Reports / downstream consumers:**

**Failure and recovery behaviour:**

## 6. Scope and Delivery

**In scope:**

**Out of scope:**

**Release boundary:**

**Fixed dates and reasons:**

**Dependencies:**

**Readiness conditions:**

**Fallback / rollback:**

## 7. Decisions and Assumptions

**Confirmed decisions:**

**Proposals awaiting approval:**

**Assumptions:**

**Conflicting information:**

## 8. Risks and Open Questions

| Risk or question | Why it matters | Owner | Next action | Due date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |

## 9. First 30-Day Priorities

- [ ] What must I understand first?
- [ ] Which journey will I trace?
- [ ] Which decisions need confirmation?
- [ ] Which risks need early attention?
- [ ] What will I play back to the team?

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**Remember:** you don't understand a project when you've collected all its documents. You understand it when you can explain how its problem, people, process, systems and decisions connect.