Stakeholders
Template Library
Stakeholders Template
Identify users, affected parties, operators, maintainers, governance stakeholders, and missing voices before requirements are written.
ES-101
Stakeholders
Human Context
Template purpose
Use this template to identify the people and groups who matter to the project.
In trustworthy intelligent systems, stakeholders include more than direct users. Affected parties, operators, maintainers, reviewers, governance owners, data stewards, security stakeholders, and those exposed to system errors may all shape responsible engineering decisions.
Project
<Project name>
Document control
| Field |
Value |
| Artifact owner |
<owner> |
| Primary reviewers |
<reviewers> |
| Status |
<draft / in review / accepted / revised> |
| Last updated |
<YYYY-MM-DD> |
| Related Engineering Stage |
ES-101 — Vision and Problem Definition |
| Project workspace target |
docs/project-workspace/vision/stakeholders.md |
Stakeholder overview
| Stakeholder Group |
Role |
Needs or Concerns |
Evidence Needed Later |
<group> |
<user / affected party / operator / reviewer / governance / maintainer / data steward / security / sponsor> |
<needs or concerns> |
<requirements, review, testing, oversight, communication, operational evidence> |
Primary users
| User Group |
Primary Goals |
Current Pain |
Success Signal |
<user group> |
<goals> |
<pain> |
<signal> |
Affected parties
People or groups affected by the system even if they do not directly use it.
| Affected Group |
How They May Be Affected |
Risk or Concern |
Engagement Needed |
<affected group> |
<effect> |
<risk or concern> |
<interview / review / notification / representation / none> |
Operators and maintainers
| Group |
Operational Responsibility |
Support Concern |
Evidence Needed |
<operator or maintainer group> |
<responsibility> |
<concern> |
<runbook, monitoring, escalation, incident, rollback, maintenance record> |
Governance and review stakeholders
| Stakeholder |
Review / Oversight Responsibility |
Required Evidence |
<governance or review group> |
<policy, compliance, security, privacy, safety, academic, operational, release, AI governance> |
<evidence required> |
Data and AI stakeholders
| Stakeholder |
Concern |
Evidence Needed |
<data owner / model reviewer / AI governance / privacy / security / evaluator> |
<data quality, bias, privacy, provenance, model behavior, evaluation, human oversight> |
<data review, model card, AI use log, evaluation record, approval> |
Stakeholder communication needs
| Stakeholder Group |
What They Need to Know |
Communication Method |
Timing |
<group> |
<information> |
<meeting / email / dashboard / release note / training / documentation> |
<stage or date> |
Missing or uncertain stakeholders
Record stakeholder uncertainty.
| Potential Stakeholder |
Why They May Matter |
How to Validate |
<stakeholder group to investigate> |
<reason> |
<interview, review, policy check, operational check> |
Stakeholder risks
| Risk |
Stakeholder Affected |
Mitigation or Follow-up |
<risk> |
<stakeholder> |
<mitigation> |
Review checklist
- [ ] Direct users are identified.
- [ ] Affected parties are considered.
- [ ] Operators and maintainers are identified.
- [ ] Governance and review stakeholders are identified.
- [ ] Data and AI stakeholders are considered where relevant.
- [ ] Communication needs are recorded.
- [ ] Missing stakeholders are not hidden.
Continue to Scope
Define what is included, excluded, deferred, and prohibited.
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