Six weeks from the first interview to a concrete plan for change. We mapped how a large cultural organisation actually works — with hard data, clear priorities, and an implementation plan.
The South Bohemian Theatre: around 285 employees, four artistic ensembles, an education centre. A complex organisation where the creative and operational work of dozens of teams overlaps.
Leadership sensed that something wasn't working as well as it could. The organisation was paying for a digital platform that part of the staff didn't use. There was a suspicion of duplicate processes and unnecessary manual work. What was missing was hard data: where exactly the problems were, how big they were, and where to start.
Digital Needs Mapping isn't a technical IT audit of servers and networks. It's systematic research into how people in an organisation actually work: how they communicate, how they share documents, how they agree on changes, and where they lose time.
I combine methods from user research, service design, and change management. The result isn't just a list of problems, but a concrete plan for solving them — with deadlines, clear ownership, and a realistic estimate of effort.
The mapping was broken into several steps that built on one another and gradually revealed where the organisation was losing time and where change would have the biggest impact.
I prepared a structured questionnaire mapping seven key areas: from attitudes to technology through communication and document management to security habits. The questionnaire targeted leadership and middle management. It was completed by 40 key employees who directly influence how processes run in the organisation.
I ran 17 in-depth interviews with a deliberately chosen cross-section of staff: from the director through department heads to frontline employees. That came to almost 17 hours of recordings, in which I mapped in detail their real work processes, pain points, communication patterns, and attitudes to change.
The most valuable step. I systematically connected the quantitative data from the questionnaire with the qualitative findings from the interviews, looking for patterns that would stay hidden when looking at either source on its own.
An example: The questionnaire showed that practically the whole organisation struggled to find files. Only the interviews revealed the cause: six interlinked planning documents, maintained by hand and independently of one another, with a single person able to make a comprehensive change.
The whole synthesis produced 39 concrete recommendations. No abstract "improve communication". Each recommendation says exactly what to do, who owns it, by when, and what impact it will have.
One of the most important outputs of the mapping are the baseline metrics: precisely measured values in key areas such as technology adoption, security habits, satisfaction with tools, and the level of duplicate work.
Why does this matter? Because without a starting measurement you can't:
At the South Bohemian Theatre, the metrics revealed surprises at both ends of the spectrum. Some indicators were far better than leadership expected — for instance, employees' readiness for change. Others were alarming and demanded immediate attention. Without precise data, leadership would have been solving what was visible instead of what was truly critical.
The output of the mapping wasn't just an analytical report, but a set of concrete materials and tools the organisation can start using right away and use to roll out changes step by step.
A detailed report connecting the data from the questionnaire and the interviews. 39 recommendations, each with a description of the problem, a proposed solution, an assessment of impact and effort, an owner, and a deadline. Recommendations sorted into categories from critical to strategic projects.
I described and visualised every problematic process in detail. I capture process flows in BPMN 2.0 diagrams, people's experience including emotions and pain points in journey maps, and interactions between roles in service blueprints.
Processes visualised this way are the basis for the design workshops that follow and for other techniques that help put changes into practice as efficiently as possible. The organisation doesn't stop at describing the problem — it gets visual materials it can work with right away.
Instead of a static PDF, leadership gets an interactive web application with key metrics, a filterable overview of recommendations, and a visual priority matrix on the axes of impact and effort. It's clear at a glance where to start.
A 4 to 6 hours facilitated workshop is the turning point from analysis to action. In working groups, employees identify solutions themselves and take ownership of them. I adapt the workshop design to the participants' level: at the theatre we worked with processes and communication, not technical topics. The output is an action plan with concrete steps, owners, and deadlines.
Thanks to the mapping, the South Bohemian Theatre has hard data instead of impressions, a concrete plan with deadlines and owners, and an information base for budget decisions. Leadership knows where to invest first and where the return will be highest.
The organisation has identified its change ambassadors: specific people with the motivation and potential to lead digital transformation within their teams. And thanks to the measured baseline metrics, it can objectively evaluate the shift once the changes are in place.
The mapping is followed by mentoring — practical support while changes are being put in place. I guide the working teams through the individual implementations: from choosing tools through setting up processes to training key users.
Mentoring makes sure the recommendations don't stay on paper.
The mapping takes 6–8 weeks, but I carry the analytical work. Your people invest a minimum of their time:
That's all. Data collection, analysis, synthesis, visualisations, the implementation plan, and preparing the workshop — I handle all of it.
In my experience, the mapping process itself already sets change in motion. The interviews and the questionnaire get people thinking about their own processes — and smaller, long-postponed problems start getting solved even before I deliver the final report.
Research know-how. I combine methods from user research, service design, and change management. I work to my own methodology, proven in practice and continuously refined.
A focus on people. I map how employees really behave, not theoretical workflows. Mapping is about processes and people, not about technology.
Visual and interactive outputs. Journey maps, BPMN diagrams, interactive dashboards. Materials you can keep working with right away.
Facilitating change. The mapping is the beginning. The workshop and mentoring make sure the recommendations genuinely make it into practice.
Let's arrange an informal first conversation. We'll go through your situation and I'll suggest what mapping could look like for you.
Mgr. Kateřina Švidrnochová
I'm a service designer, learning designer, and strategic consultant. For fifteen years I've worked at the intersection of technology and education, helping organisations connect their people, processes, and technology. Always tailored, always grounded in how things really work for you.
