SE Discovery Activities: Gather Current State and Map Innovation to Needs
Short answer
AC Discovery gathers the customer's current network state and maps Cisco innovation to their needs; architecture and PPDIOO come later.
Question
Key Takeaways
Discovery = learn + align (current state, map innovation). Building reference architectures and applying the PPDIOO lifecycle model happen in the design phase that follows discovery.
In a systems-engineering discovery engagement, the engineer empathizes with the customer by gathering information about the current network state and mapping Cisco innovation to the customer's needs. Developing a reference architecture and invoking PPDIOO are design-phase activities, not discovery.
Common mistake: Picking D (PPDIOO): PPDIOO is the overall design lifecycle model, not a discovery activity; discovery specifically gathers state and maps needs (A, C).
Expert Analysis
Why the Answer Is Correct
A and C are correct. Discovery is about empathizing with the customer: gathering information on the current network state (A) and mapping Cisco innovation to the customer's stated needs (C). These build the foundation the design phase later uses.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
B (develop a reference architecture) and D (reference PPDIOO) are design-phase activities, not discovery. E (establish credibility) is a soft skill that helps the engagement but is not one of the two discovery activities the question targets.
Community Comment Notes
The vote is AC (75) vs AD (25). The top comment frames discovery as Cisco Design Thinking's empathize phase — understanding the user's current state and needs — which maps to A and C.
Exam Strategy
When a 300-420 question asks about the SE discovery process, use phase keywords: discovery equals Cisco Design Thinking's empathize phase, so choose options about understanding the customer's current state and needs, not design deliverables. Quickly eliminate any option naming reference architecture or PPDIOO, because those are design-phase artifacts; also treat soft skills like credibility-building as supporting context unless the question explicitly asks about engagement skills.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is mapping Cisco innovation to customer needs part of discovery instead of design?
Why is establishing credibility (E) not a discovery activity?
Why are reference architecture (B) and PPDIOO (D) not discovery activities?
Community Votes
75% of anonymous learners picked answer AC. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.
Discussion 4 contributions
Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.
From public community threads 4
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Dakrua 👍 1Discover In the first phase of Cisco Design Thinking, your priority is getting to know your users — with empathy. By empathizing with users and truly understanding their core needs, current frustrations, and related pain points, you can uncover the valuable opportunities that drive true innovation. We do this by immersing ourselves in the world of our user through research techniques like interviews and contextual inquiries. We interpret the information we are capturing through artifacts like Journey maps, empathy maps, and story boards. We aim to capture the current state of the world for our user, and then reframe the information in order to draw insight from it. https://medium.com/cisco-design-community/the-cisco-design-thinking-framework-1263c3ce2e7c
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Cispro 👍 1I think its AD. PPDIOO stands for: Prepare, Plan, Design, Implement, Operate, Optimize
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cybman76 👍 1i think is A&C
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f9e40af 👍 1A and C.
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