The DEEP Build Kit · Card 02
Outcome Canvas
An A4 worksheet to fill in before you open any AI tool: the problem, the outcome and a before measure, the user, three success checks, your red lines, the rung you are aiming for, and a partner's question.
For: Everyone. Level 1 ● Blue starts from an item on the build menu (card 13)
Card 02 · Brief it: define the outcome · 25 minutes (0:15–0:40)
Fill this in before you open any AI tool. Your tool will be judged against what you write here, not against how it looks. 20 minutes on your own, then 5 minutes in pairs (box 7).
- Level 1 ● Blue: copy an item from the build menu (card 13) and make it yours: your user, task and checked content.
- Level 2 ▲ Orange and Level 3 ■ Black: start from a problem in your own practice. Level 2 ▲ Orange with no problem ready: take one from the build menu (card 13) and make it your own.
A personal teacher workflow is equally valid. Menu 9 is a preparation checklist: your user can be you or a colleague. Its outcome is completing the real task accurately; use its workflow checks and prompts, with no quiz or retrieval requirement.
The canvas
| # | Box | Write here |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The problem now. One sentence: what happens now that you want to change? | |
| 2 | Outcome statement. Who, the change, and the evidence you will see. Then the before measure: the same check, before they use it. | After using this, ____________ will ________________________, which I'll see when ________________________. Before: I'll check the same thing before they use it, by ________________. |
| 3 | The user. Who uses it, where, on what device? What do they already know? Where do they go wrong now? | Who: Where and when: Device: Already know: Go wrong now: |
| 4 | Three success checks. Each one: "When I [do this], it [does that]." For a classroom question, include a correct answer that must be accepted. For a teacher workflow, check the intended valid action, undo, reset and empty states. | 1. When I ________________, it ________________. 2. When I ________________, it ________________. 3. When I ________________, it ________________. |
| 5 | Red lines. What it must never do. | Rule 1: no student names or data anywhere. Rule 2: nothing student-facing calls AI. My own: |
| 6 | Target rung. Circle one. Aim for one rung in version 1. | Show · Respond · Remember Think (AI inside the tool) is beyond this session: see card 18. |
| 7 | Pair critique (last 5 minutes). Swap canvases. Your partner reads boxes 2 and 4 and asks: "How would you know it worked?" | Their question: What I changed: |
What makes a good success check
- You can run it in a minute or two and see pass or fail. No judgement call.
- Someone else could run it from your words alone. At 1:55 someone will, exactly as you wrote it.
- It names what you do and what the tool does. "They'll enjoy it" is not a check.
- Check both directions. For a teacher workflow, the intended action must work and undo or reset must return the expected state. For a classroom question, at least one check accepts a right answer. In Alex's finance app, the tests "only ever checked that invalid amounts were rejected" (Alex Gray, I Gave ChatGPT a Week to Build My App). Card 05 has the story.
Worked example: the equivalent-fractions quiz
A filled-in canvas for one of the four starter tools, so you can see the shape. It is an example only: write your own, and check every answer yourself before students use it.
| # | Box | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The problem now | Students who have been taught equivalent fractions still think adding the same number to the top and bottom keeps a fraction the same size. |
| 2 | Outcome statement | After using this, my Year 5–6 students will say why multiplying or dividing the top and bottom by the same number (not zero) keeps a fraction the same size, while adding the same number to both usually changes it, which I'll see when they explain in one sentence, on paper, why 2/3 ≠ 3/4, a week later. Before: I'll ask the same question on paper before they use it. |
| 3 | The user | Year 5–6 students, on their own or in pairs, as a 10-minute starter or plenary after equivalent fractions have been taught. Laptop, tablet or phone. Already know: what an equivalent fraction is. Go wrong now: adding to the top and bottom instead of multiplying. |
| 4 | Three success checks | 1. When I choose the right answer to question 2, it says "Correct." and explains why. 2. When I choose a wrong answer to question 1, it says "Not quite", gives the right answer, explains why, and adds a note on the answer I chose. 3. When I press Check answer with nothing chosen, it says "Choose an answer first." and gives nothing away. |
| 5 | Red lines | The two rules. My own: no timers, points, leaderboards, confetti or sounds; no "all of the above". |
| 6 | Target rung | Respond |
| 7 | Pair critique | Their question: "How would you know it worked for the students, not just that the page works?" What I changed: the evidence in box 2, from "they enjoy it" to a one-sentence written explanation a week later, with the same question asked before. |
Next: turn this canvas into your spec (card 03).
DEEP Education Network · Build with AI · Two rules: no student names or data anywhere; nothing student-facing calls AI.