Tools and Features

Catalyst Canvas: Feature-by-Feature Guide

Use every documented Catalyst Canvas feature with sample input and expected output.

ProductCatalyst CanvasVerified version2.0.0ComponentAssumption Ledger, Challenge Frame, Comparison, Concept Selection, Evidence Ledger, Export and Handoffs, How Might We, Idea Generation, Journey Map, Learning Log, Personas, Point of View, Project Workspace, Prototype Plan, Research Plan, Review Workflow, Stakeholder Map, Test PlanUpdatedJuly 17, 2026Reading time18 minutes
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Catalyst Canvas · Technical Reference

Problem framing, stakeholders, personas, journeys, evidence, assumptions, research, concepts, prototypes, tests, learning, review, and handoffs.

Audience: product users, administrators, reviewers, and integrators.

Last verified version: 2.0.0

Reading time: 18–30 minutes

Status: Published support documentation.

Purpose

This is the complete documented feature inventory for Catalyst Canvas version 2.0.0. Every feature includes sample data, a seven-step use pattern, expected output, and a verification rule. Reverify this article whenever the product release changes.

Prerequisites

  • A clean demonstration workspace
  • The downloadable all-feature CSV or JSON
  • Current product release notes
  • Permission to use each tested feature
  • A reviewer familiar with the product

Sample data

This article uses a fictional Resilient Community Retrofit Program. The files contain one demonstration row for every documented feature, so each capability can be tested without private or production data.

Download CSV feature examples · Download JSON workspace example

Preview

# Feature Sample action Expected result Classification
1 Project Workspace create CANVAS-RETROFIT-001 with owner and status a persistent project synthetic-demo
2 Challenge Frame describe energy, comfort, users, desired change, and boundaries a concise challenge statement synthetic-demo
3 Stakeholder Map map visitors, staff, facilities, funders, and contractors a stakeholder network synthetic-demo
4 Personas create an evidence-bounded facilities-manager persona a persona separating evidence from inference synthetic-demo
5 Journey Map map room booking, comfort complaints, and facilities response a stage-based journey synthetic-demo

The downloadable files include all 18 feature rows.

Feature-by-feature procedure

1. Project Workspace

Purpose: Use Project Workspace within the governed Catalyst Canvas workflow.

Sample action: create CANVAS-RETROFIT-001 with owner and status.

Steps

  1. Open or create the synthetic retrofit workspace.
  2. Select or navigate to this feature.
  3. Enter the matching row from the CSV or JSON sample.
  4. Review required fields, sources, units, permissions, assumptions, and warnings.
  5. Run or save the feature operation.
  6. Compare the result with the expected result below.
  7. Add a review note and preserve the feature state.

Expected result: a persistent project.

Verification: The result must preserve the sample feature ID, product version, lifecycle state, provenance, and any domain-specific unit or classification. Failure must return an actionable error without destroying prior state.

2. Challenge Frame

Purpose: Use Challenge Frame within the governed Catalyst Canvas workflow.

Sample action: describe energy, comfort, users, desired change, and boundaries.

Steps

  1. Open or create the synthetic retrofit workspace.
  2. Select or navigate to this feature.
  3. Enter the matching row from the CSV or JSON sample.
  4. Review required fields, sources, units, permissions, assumptions, and warnings.
  5. Run or save the feature operation.
  6. Compare the result with the expected result below.
  7. Add a review note and preserve the feature state.

Expected result: a concise challenge statement.

Verification: The result must preserve the sample feature ID, product version, lifecycle state, provenance, and any domain-specific unit or classification. Failure must return an actionable error without destroying prior state.

3. Stakeholder Map

Purpose: Use Stakeholder Map within the governed Catalyst Canvas workflow.

Sample action: map visitors, staff, facilities, funders, and contractors.

Steps

  1. Open or create the synthetic retrofit workspace.
  2. Select or navigate to this feature.
  3. Enter the matching row from the CSV or JSON sample.
  4. Review required fields, sources, units, permissions, assumptions, and warnings.
  5. Run or save the feature operation.
  6. Compare the result with the expected result below.
  7. Add a review note and preserve the feature state.

Expected result: a stakeholder network.

Verification: The result must preserve the sample feature ID, product version, lifecycle state, provenance, and any domain-specific unit or classification. Failure must return an actionable error without destroying prior state.

4. Personas

Purpose: Use Personas within the governed Catalyst Canvas workflow.

Sample action: create an evidence-bounded facilities-manager persona.

Steps

  1. Open or create the synthetic retrofit workspace.
  2. Select or navigate to this feature.
  3. Enter the matching row from the CSV or JSON sample.
  4. Review required fields, sources, units, permissions, assumptions, and warnings.
  5. Run or save the feature operation.
  6. Compare the result with the expected result below.
  7. Add a review note and preserve the feature state.

Expected result: a persona separating evidence from inference.

Verification: The result must preserve the sample feature ID, product version, lifecycle state, provenance, and any domain-specific unit or classification. Failure must return an actionable error without destroying prior state.

5. Journey Map

Purpose: Use Journey Map within the governed Catalyst Canvas workflow.

Sample action: map room booking, comfort complaints, and facilities response.

Steps

  1. Open or create the synthetic retrofit workspace.
  2. Select or navigate to this feature.
  3. Enter the matching row from the CSV or JSON sample.
  4. Review required fields, sources, units, permissions, assumptions, and warnings.
  5. Run or save the feature operation.
  6. Compare the result with the expected result below.
  7. Add a review note and preserve the feature state.

Expected result: a stage-based journey.

Verification: The result must preserve the sample feature ID, product version, lifecycle state, provenance, and any domain-specific unit or classification. Failure must return an actionable error without destroying prior state.

6. Point of View

Purpose: Use Point of View within the governed Catalyst Canvas workflow.

Sample action: synthesize user, need, and insight.

Steps

  1. Open or create the synthetic retrofit workspace.
  2. Select or navigate to this feature.
  3. Enter the matching row from the CSV or JSON sample.
  4. Review required fields, sources, units, permissions, assumptions, and warnings.
  5. Run or save the feature operation.
  6. Compare the result with the expected result below.
  7. Add a review note and preserve the feature state.

Expected result: a reviewable POV statement.

Verification: The result must preserve the sample feature ID, product version, lifecycle state, provenance, and any domain-specific unit or classification. Failure must return an actionable error without destroying prior state.

7. How Might We

Purpose: Use How Might We within the governed Catalyst Canvas workflow.

Sample action: ask how to reduce energy without hiding comfort tradeoffs.

Steps

  1. Open or create the synthetic retrofit workspace.
  2. Select or navigate to this feature.
  3. Enter the matching row from the CSV or JSON sample.
  4. Review required fields, sources, units, permissions, assumptions, and warnings.
  5. Run or save the feature operation.
  6. Compare the result with the expected result below.
  7. Add a review note and preserve the feature state.

Expected result: bounded design questions.

Verification: The result must preserve the sample feature ID, product version, lifecycle state, provenance, and any domain-specific unit or classification. Failure must return an actionable error without destroying prior state.

8. Evidence Ledger

Purpose: Use Evidence Ledger within the governed Catalyst Canvas workflow.

Sample action: add utility bills, observations, and interviews.

Steps

  1. Open or create the synthetic retrofit workspace.
  2. Select or navigate to this feature.
  3. Enter the matching row from the CSV or JSON sample.
  4. Review required fields, sources, units, permissions, assumptions, and warnings.
  5. Run or save the feature operation.
  6. Compare the result with the expected result below.
  7. Add a review note and preserve the feature state.

Expected result: source-linked evidence records.

Verification: The result must preserve the sample feature ID, product version, lifecycle state, provenance, and any domain-specific unit or classification. Failure must return an actionable error without destroying prior state.

9. Assumption Ledger

Purpose: Use Assumption Ledger within the governed Catalyst Canvas workflow.

Sample action: record that staff will use a dashboard weekly.

Steps

  1. Open or create the synthetic retrofit workspace.
  2. Select or navigate to this feature.
  3. Enter the matching row from the CSV or JSON sample.
  4. Review required fields, sources, units, permissions, assumptions, and warnings.
  5. Run or save the feature operation.
  6. Compare the result with the expected result below.
  7. Add a review note and preserve the feature state.

Expected result: an assumption with risk and test.

Verification: The result must preserve the sample feature ID, product version, lifecycle state, provenance, and any domain-specific unit or classification. Failure must return an actionable error without destroying prior state.

10. Research Plan

Purpose: Use Research Plan within the governed Catalyst Canvas workflow.

Sample action: plan interviews, meter review, ethics, and outputs.

Steps

  1. Open or create the synthetic retrofit workspace.
  2. Select or navigate to this feature.
  3. Enter the matching row from the CSV or JSON sample.
  4. Review required fields, sources, units, permissions, assumptions, and warnings.
  5. Run or save the feature operation.
  6. Compare the result with the expected result below.
  7. Add a review note and preserve the feature state.

Expected result: a governed plan.

Verification: The result must preserve the sample feature ID, product version, lifecycle state, provenance, and any domain-specific unit or classification. Failure must return an actionable error without destroying prior state.

11. Idea Generation

Purpose: Use Idea Generation within the governed Catalyst Canvas workflow.

Sample action: generate sensor, scheduling, controls, and training concepts.

Steps

  1. Open or create the synthetic retrofit workspace.
  2. Select or navigate to this feature.
  3. Enter the matching row from the CSV or JSON sample.
  4. Review required fields, sources, units, permissions, assumptions, and warnings.
  5. Run or save the feature operation.
  6. Compare the result with the expected result below.
  7. Add a review note and preserve the feature state.

Expected result: an idea set linked to needs.

Verification: The result must preserve the sample feature ID, product version, lifecycle state, provenance, and any domain-specific unit or classification. Failure must return an actionable error without destroying prior state.

12. Concept Selection

Purpose: Use Concept Selection within the governed Catalyst Canvas workflow.

Sample action: score concepts on feasibility, impact, equity, and evidence.

Steps

  1. Open or create the synthetic retrofit workspace.
  2. Select or navigate to this feature.
  3. Enter the matching row from the CSV or JSON sample.
  4. Review required fields, sources, units, permissions, assumptions, and warnings.
  5. Run or save the feature operation.
  6. Compare the result with the expected result below.
  7. Add a review note and preserve the feature state.

Expected result: a transparent selection rationale.

Verification: The result must preserve the sample feature ID, product version, lifecycle state, provenance, and any domain-specific unit or classification. Failure must return an actionable error without destroying prior state.

13. Prototype Plan

Purpose: Use Prototype Plan within the governed Catalyst Canvas workflow.

Sample action: define a comfort-and-energy dashboard prototype.

Steps

  1. Open or create the synthetic retrofit workspace.
  2. Select or navigate to this feature.
  3. Enter the matching row from the CSV or JSON sample.
  4. Review required fields, sources, units, permissions, assumptions, and warnings.
  5. Run or save the feature operation.
  6. Compare the result with the expected result below.
  7. Add a review note and preserve the feature state.

Expected result: a bounded prototype specification.

Verification: The result must preserve the sample feature ID, product version, lifecycle state, provenance, and any domain-specific unit or classification. Failure must return an actionable error without destroying prior state.

14. Test Plan

Purpose: Use Test Plan within the governed Catalyst Canvas workflow.

Sample action: test whether staff can identify an overheating zone.

Steps

  1. Open or create the synthetic retrofit workspace.
  2. Select or navigate to this feature.
  3. Enter the matching row from the CSV or JSON sample.
  4. Review required fields, sources, units, permissions, assumptions, and warnings.
  5. Run or save the feature operation.
  6. Compare the result with the expected result below.
  7. Add a review note and preserve the feature state.

Expected result: a task script and success measures.

Verification: The result must preserve the sample feature ID, product version, lifecycle state, provenance, and any domain-specific unit or classification. Failure must return an actionable error without destroying prior state.

15. Learning Log

Purpose: Use Learning Log within the governed Catalyst Canvas workflow.

Sample action: record that users misread a comfort score.

Steps

  1. Open or create the synthetic retrofit workspace.
  2. Select or navigate to this feature.
  3. Enter the matching row from the CSV or JSON sample.
  4. Review required fields, sources, units, permissions, assumptions, and warnings.
  5. Run or save the feature operation.
  6. Compare the result with the expected result below.
  7. Add a review note and preserve the feature state.

Expected result: a chronological learning entry.

Verification: The result must preserve the sample feature ID, product version, lifecycle state, provenance, and any domain-specific unit or classification. Failure must return an actionable error without destroying prior state.

16. Review Workflow

Purpose: Use Review Workflow within the governed Catalyst Canvas workflow.

Sample action: request research and accessibility review.

Steps

  1. Open or create the synthetic retrofit workspace.
  2. Select or navigate to this feature.
  3. Enter the matching row from the CSV or JSON sample.
  4. Review required fields, sources, units, permissions, assumptions, and warnings.
  5. Run or save the feature operation.
  6. Compare the result with the expected result below.
  7. Add a review note and preserve the feature state.

Expected result: a human review trail.

Verification: The result must preserve the sample feature ID, product version, lifecycle state, provenance, and any domain-specific unit or classification. Failure must return an actionable error without destroying prior state.

17. Comparison

Purpose: Use Comparison within the governed Catalyst Canvas workflow.

Sample action: compare two dashboard concepts using aligned criteria.

Steps

  1. Open or create the synthetic retrofit workspace.
  2. Select or navigate to this feature.
  3. Enter the matching row from the CSV or JSON sample.
  4. Review required fields, sources, units, permissions, assumptions, and warnings.
  5. Run or save the feature operation.
  6. Compare the result with the expected result below.
  7. Add a review note and preserve the feature state.

Expected result: a side-by-side evidence view.

Verification: The result must preserve the sample feature ID, product version, lifecycle state, provenance, and any domain-specific unit or classification. Failure must return an actionable error without destroying prior state.

18. Export and Handoffs

Purpose: Use Export and Handoffs within the governed Catalyst Canvas workflow.

Sample action: send the chosen concept to Decision Studio.

Steps

  1. Open or create the synthetic retrofit workspace.
  2. Select or navigate to this feature.
  3. Enter the matching row from the CSV or JSON sample.
  4. Review required fields, sources, units, permissions, assumptions, and warnings.
  5. Run or save the feature operation.
  6. Compare the result with the expected result below.
  7. Add a review note and preserve the feature state.

Expected result: a portable bundle and receipt.

Verification: The result must preserve the sample feature ID, product version, lifecycle state, provenance, and any domain-specific unit or classification. Failure must return an actionable error without destroying prior state.

Expected output

  • a persistent project
  • a concise challenge statement
  • a stakeholder network
  • a persona separating evidence from inference
  • a stage-based journey
  • a reviewable POV statement
  • bounded design questions
  • source-linked evidence records
  • an assumption with risk and test
  • a governed plan
  • an idea set linked to needs
  • a transparent selection rationale
  • a bounded prototype specification
  • a task script and success measures
  • a chronological learning entry
  • a human review trail
  • a side-by-side evidence view
  • a portable bundle and receipt

Whole-product verification

  • All 18 documented features are present or intentionally permission-restricted.
  • Every feature accepts its synthetic row or explains why it does not apply.
  • Errors preserve saved state and provide a recovery path.
  • Exports and handoffs retain provenance and version identity.
  • No private, confidential, or secret information appears in public output.

Responsible use

Avoid fabricated personas, extractive research, sensitive-data collection without safeguards, and claims unsupported by evidence.

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