Workbook

Make the Mission Yours

Role: Policy Analyst

Use these activities to apply each principle to your current product, service, or project. These activities are a sample to get you started, not an exhaustive list. Adapt and expand them based on your team's context and needs. Capture your answers, share them with your team, and revisit them as you learn.

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Important: When Using AI Tools

When using AI-assisted activities, always double-check for accuracy and meaning each and every time. AI tools can help accelerate your work, but human judgment, validation, and critical thinking remain essential.

Review AI-generated content with your team, validate it against real user feedback and domain knowledge, and ensure it truly serves your mission and user outcomes before proceeding.

1) Shared Mission and Vision

Translate policy goals into user-centered mission statements.

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Learn More

For more information and deeper understanding of this principle, refer to the 1) Shared Mission and Vision section in the framework.

Workbook Activities (do now)

☐Rewrite a policy objective as a user need and desired outcome.
☐Align with PM/Eng on which user journeys the policy affects.
☐Summarize the mission impact of a policy in one paragraph for the team.
☐Tag the current policy item with the specific user risk it mitigates and the success signal.
☐Validate your rewrite with a business/ops stakeholder and capture their wording for the team.

AI Assisted Activities

☐Use AI to help draft policy objectives that map to mission outcomes, but have your team review and refine them to ensure they reflect real user needs and business goals.
☐Ask AI to generate potential user outcomes for your policy work, then validate each one against direct user feedback and domain knowledge before finalizing.
☐Use AI to help structure your policy-to-mission mappings, but ensure human team members validate that each policy truly serves the mission before implementing.
☐Have AI analyze past policy work to identify mission alignment patterns, then use those insights in team discussions to improve how policy connects to user outcomes.

Evidence of Progress

☐Product briefs include user-centered policy intent.
☐Team can state which journeys the policy affects.

2) Break Down Silos

Collaborate early to embed policy in design/build.

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Learn More

For more information and deeper understanding of this principle, refer to the 2) Break Down Silos section in the framework.

Workbook Activities (do now)

☐Join a feature kickoff to outline policy constraints and acceptable options.
☐Co-review policy impacts with PM/Design/Eng and document agreed interpretations.
☐Create a short FAQ for policy questions and share with the squad.
☐Run a 15-minute edge-case alignment with design/eng on exceptions and who decides.
☐Review copy/UX for policy-driven steps and propose clearer language or flow for users.

AI Assisted Activities

☐When AI generates policy guidance or compliance requirements, have cross-functional team members (PM, design, engineering) review them together to ensure they serve users and align with mission.
☐Use AI to help draft policy FAQs or guidance documents, but ensure all roles contribute their perspectives during the actual policy review sessions.
☐Have AI analyze policy handoff patterns and compliance gaps, then use those insights in cross-functional discussions to improve collaboration.
☐Use AI to help structure policy collaboration sessions, but ensure human team members make decisions together about what to implement and how it serves users.

Evidence of Progress

☐Policy considerations appear in design/eng notes before build.
☐Fewer late-stage policy blockers.

3) User Engagement

See how policy shows up for users.

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Learn More

For more information and deeper understanding of this principle, refer to the 3) User Engagement section in the framework.

Workbook Activities (do now)

☐Observe a user interaction where policy applies; note friction or clarity.
☐Collect three user quotes about how a policy affects their experience.
☐Translate one recurring policy-related support issue into guidance for design/eng.
☐Check with support whether policy wording confuses users; suggest specific alternatives.
☐Identify one policy step that adds friction and draft a mitigation (content, flow, tooling) with the team.

AI Assisted Activities

☐Use AI to analyze user feedback, support tickets, or compliance data to identify patterns for policy work, but always validate AI insights through direct user engagement or observation.
☐Have AI generate questions for user interviews based on your policy assumptions, then use those questions in real conversations with users to build genuine empathy.
☐Use AI to help summarize user research findings related to policy, but ensure you review the summaries and add your own observations from direct user interactions.
☐Have AI analyze user behavior patterns from policy-related telemetry, then discuss those patterns with actual users to understand the "why" behind policy friction before implementing changes.

Evidence of Progress

☐Policy guidance includes user quotes/examples.
☐Support issues tied to policy are addressed in product changes.

4) Outcomes Over Outputs

Measure policy impact on compliance and user experience.

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Learn More

For more information and deeper understanding of this principle, refer to the 4) Outcomes Over Outputs section in the framework.

Workbook Activities (do now)

☐Define one compliance and one UX outcome for a policy change.
☐After release, review incidents/violations and user feedback related to the policy.
☐Propose an iteration if outcomes are off (e.g., too much friction, gaps in compliance).
☐Set a readout date to check both compliance and usability signals post-release.
☐If friction is high, propose a specific change (content, UX, support) with the owning team.

AI Assisted Activities

☐When AI generates policy requirements or compliance frameworks, define outcome metrics upfront and measure whether AI-generated policy work achieves intended user outcomes, not just compliance completion.
☐Use AI to help analyze policy outcome data and identify patterns, but have human team members interpret what those patterns mean for users and the mission.
☐Have AI help draft policy outcome definitions and success criteria, but ensure the team validates them against real user needs and business goals before proceeding.
☐Use AI to track and report on policy outcome metrics, but schedule human team reviews to discuss what the metrics mean and how to adjust policy based on observed impact.

Evidence of Progress

☐Policy changes have outcome measures, not just checkboxes.
☐Iterations are proposed based on compliance + UX evidence.

5) Domain Knowledge

Map policy to the service ecosystem.

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Learn More

For more information and deeper understanding of this principle, refer to the 5) Domain Knowledge section in the framework.

Workbook Activities (do now)

☐Map policy requirements onto a service map: front/back stage impacts and owners.
☐Identify data/consent/retention rules and where they apply in the flow.
☐Document edge cases and who decides on exceptions.
☐Confirm with data/engineering how policy is enforced at integration points for this release.
☐Review one past policy-related incident and list a guardrail to apply now.

AI Assisted Activities

☐Use AI to help summarize domain documentation, service maps, or policy requirements, but validate AI-generated domain knowledge through direct engagement with domain experts.
☐Have AI generate questions about domain constraints or ecosystem relationships for your policy work, then use those questions in conversations with domain experts to build deep understanding.
☐Use AI to help draft service maps or policy documentation, but ensure team members review them with domain experts to verify accuracy and completeness.
☐Have AI analyze past policy work or domain-related issues, then discuss those insights with the team and domain experts to identify patterns and prevent similar problems.

Evidence of Progress

☐Service maps show policy touchpoints and owners.
☐Edge cases/exception paths are documented and owned.

6) The Art of Storytelling

Explain policy as protecting people and mission.

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Learn More

For more information and deeper understanding of this principle, refer to the 6) The Art of Storytelling section in the framework.

Workbook Activities (do now)

☐Write a short user story showing how policy protects or enables the user.
☐Create two summaries of a policy change: one plain-language for users/stakeholders, one detailed for eng.
☐Use a before/after vignette to illustrate reduced risk or improved fairness.
☐Add one concrete scenario (with data/quote) to make the policy rationale memorable.
☐Record a 60-second explainer on how this policy change reduces user or organizational risk.

AI Assisted Activities

☐Use AI to help structure or draft policy stories and explanations, but refine them with real user anecdotes, emotions, and personal observations from direct user interactions.
☐Have AI generate different versions of policy explanations for different audiences (stakeholders vs engineers), but ensure each version includes authentic human stories about real user protection.
☐Use AI to help summarize policy work in presentations, but lead with human stories about real users protected by policy, using AI-generated summaries as supporting material.
☐Have AI help draft policy documentation or guidance, but always include real user quotes, data points, or anecdotes that connect your policy work to human impact.

Evidence of Progress

☐Stakeholders can retell the user story behind the policy.
☐Eng understands the rationale and user impact, not just the rule.