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WGU D428 Task 1: Design Thinking Guide and Example
Updated on: Oct 15, 2026
By Dan Palmer, MBA · Academic strategy consultant for working adult learners · LinkedIn
WGU D428 Task 1 asks you to take one problem through the five stages of design thinking: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. You pick one of two scenarios about SmokyWoods Amusement Park, a regional theme park in the mountains, and walk the problem from understanding its users to a low-fidelity prototype and a plan to test it. The task appears on your directions as EGN1, in the course Design Thinking for Business, D428.
For working learners, the challenge isn’t the theory. It’s the pull toward jumping straight to a solution. The rubric follows the stages in order, and a paper that starts with “the park should build a roller coaster” skips the empathy and definition work the evaluator checks first. This guide explains each stage as it applies to SmokyWoods, what the prototype needs to include, and how to describe testing so it’s specific. It ends with a complete example for a fictitious ice rink, so you can see the method without a SmokyWoods paper to copy.
WGU D428 Task 1: Design Thinking Assignment
Introduction
An essential skill for professionals is understanding the processes and methodologies for solving complex problems. The design thinking process approaches problem solving and innovation by using empathy and creativity to develop solutions to complex problems.
This task requires you to apply the design thinking process to a given scenario. You will choose one of the two scenarios provided and identify a problem that needs to be solved. You will then work through the design thinking process by identifying potential solutions, developing a low-fidelity protype based on one of the identified solutions, describing how to implement the prototype, and analyzing the potential outcomes of implementing that prototype.
Scenario
Select one of the two scenarios from the attached document to use when responding to this task.
Choose one of the two provided scenarios. Use that case study to respond to parts A through F.
Empathize
A. Explain how to implement the process of empathy in the design thinking process in the chosen scenario, including any additional information to better understand the situation and from whom or where the needed information could be found.
Define
B. Summarize the problem that needs to be solved in your chosen scenario.
Ideate
C. Discuss two possible solutions to the stated problem.
C1. Select one of the discussed solutions and explain why the selected solution is superior to the other discussed solution.
Prototype
D. Develop a low-fidelity prototype (i.e., outline, image, storyboard) with sufficient detail to effectively communicate the selected solution for testing, including allappropriate labels in your prototype.
Test
E. Describe, in detail, the steps required to implement the prototype.
E1. Briefly explain how to know whether the prototype was potentially successful and include at least one potential limitation which may impact implementation of the prototype.
Analysis/Conclusion
F. Discuss onepossible positive outcome andone possible negative outcome that could result from implementing the selected solution.
Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
What D428 Task 1 Asks You to Do
The directions group the requirements by design thinking stage:
| Stage | Prompt | What you deliver |
|---|---|---|
| Empathize | A | How to apply empathy in your scenario: what additional information you need, and from whom or where you’d get it |
| Define | B | A summary of the problem that needs to be solved |
| Ideate | C | Two possible solutions to the problem |
| C1 | Which solution you select, and why it’s superior to the other | |
| Prototype | D | A low-fidelity prototype (an outline, image, or storyboard) with enough detail to communicate the solution for testing, with all appropriate labels |
| Test | E | The steps required to implement the prototype, in detail |
| E1 | How you’d know whether the prototype was potentially successful, and at least one limitation | |
| Analysis | F | One positive and one negative outcome of implementing the selected solution |
| G | In-text citations and references |
Submit a Word document. Grammarly for Education checks professional communication before you submit, and the similarity report should be reviewed too.
Choosing Your SmokyWoods Scenario
Both scenarios are about the same park, but they test different kinds of problems:
| Scenario 1: Building a New Ride | Scenario 2: Balancing Interests | |
|---|---|---|
| The situation | A limited budget allows either one large roller coaster or several smaller family rides, in a park with little space and a mostly family audience | Attendance is still almost 25% below pre-pandemic levels, and heavy sponsorship has strained relationships with the pop stars the park is themed around |
| The users | Current families, potential thrill seekers, and park operators | Guests, pop star partners, sponsors, and park leadership |
| Choose it if | You’re comfortable weighing costs, space, materials, and audience | You’re comfortable with partnerships, brand conflicts, and negotiation |
Choose the scenario whose users you can picture most clearly, since the empathy section depends on it. Neither is easier on paper.
Empathize (A): Plan How You’d Understand the Users
A is about how you’d build empathy, not what you’ve already concluded. The directions ask for three things:
- The method: interviews, observation, surveys, focus groups, reviewing feedback or sales data
- The missing information: what the scenario doesn’t tell you that you’d need to know
- The source: exactly whom or where you’d get it from
Vague: “The team should talk to guests to understand their needs.”
Specific: Name the groups (for example, families with young children who visited last season), the method for each, the questions you’d ask, and the data you’d pull, such as attendance by segment or survey comments.
Define (B): State the Problem, Not the Solution
B asks you to summarize the problem. Keep any solution out of it. A strong problem statement names the users, their need, and the constraint. For Scenario 1, the constraint involves budget and space; for Scenario 2, it involves the competing interests of partners and sponsors. Two or three sentences are enough.
Ideate (C and C1): Two Real Options
C asks for two possible solutions. Make them genuinely different, not two versions of one idea. C1 then asks why your selected solution is superior, so compare them directly against the problem you defined and the needs you uncovered in A. A strong C1 uses the users’ needs as the yardstick: which option solves more of the problem, for more of the users, within the constraints?
Prototype (D): Low Fidelity, Fully Labeled
D asks for a low-fidelity prototype: an outline, an image, or a storyboard. Low fidelity means quick and simple; a hand sketch, a slide with boxes, or a storyboard is enough. What the rubric asks for is sufficient detail to test the solution and all appropriate labels.
Practical tips:
- A storyboard works well for experiences: six frames showing what a guest, partner, or employee sees from start to finish.
- A labeled layout works well for physical changes, such as where a ride or attraction would sit.
- Label everything someone would need to understand without you there: areas, people, steps, and key features.
- Insert the prototype as an image in your Word document, with a figure caption.
Test (E and E1): Steps, Measures, and a Limitation
E asks for the steps to implement the prototype, in detail. List them in order, and make each one something a person could act on: who does what, and when. Many strong papers describe a pilot, a small and time limited test before a full rollout, which matches how prototyping and piloting are used to learn from users with limited risk (Geissdoerfer et al., 2022).
E1 has two parts:
- How you’d know it was potentially successful. Name measures and targets, such as a percentage change in attendance, survey ratings, or bookings.
- At least one limitation that could affect implementation, such as cost, space, time, or how one group of users might react.
Analysis (F): One Positive, One Negative
F asks for one possible positive outcome and one possible negative outcome of implementing the solution. The negative outcome should be realistic, not a token. Evaluators expect you to see the tradeoffs in your own solution, and explaining how you’d respond to the negative outcome shows you’ve thought it through.
Sources (G)
Cite the scenario as your course directs, plus any research you use for design thinking concepts or industry context, in APA format. Every source should be real and should open to the page you used.
D428 Task 1 Example: Lakeside Ice Arena
Our EGN1 Task 1 design thinking example is a complete APA 7 paper for a fictitious community ice rink, not SmokyWoods. Lakeside Ice Arena has falling weekend family attendance and a growing adult hockey league with only late night ice times. The paper works through every stage:
- An empathy plan naming who would be observed, interviewed, and surveyed, and which records would be checked
- A problem statement that names the users, their needs, and the constraint
- Two solutions, split ice Saturdays and a schedule swap, with a C1 comparison against users’ needs
- A labeled, six frame storyboard prototype inserted as a figure
- Six implementation steps, three success measures with targets, and a limitation
- One positive and one negative outcome, with comments explaining which prompt each section meets
Here’s part of its C1 section:
Split ice Saturdays is the stronger solution because it serves both groups at the times they asked for. Families told interviewers that weekends are the only time they can skate together, so moving family skating to weeknights would not bring them back.
The example can’t be adapted for your paper, because it isn’t one of the WGU scenarios. Your submission must apply design thinking to SmokyWoods in your own words.
Download the D428 Task 1 example (.docx)
WGU D428 Task 1 Answers: Why Copying Backfires
Every student chooses between the same two SmokyWoods scenarios, so papers posted as WGU D428 Task 1 answers tend to land on the same few solutions in similar words. That’s the overlap WGU’s similarity checker is built to catch. The empathy plan and prototype are also where your own thinking shows most clearly, so a copied version is easy to spot.
Plan It Around Your Work Week
- Evening one (about 1.5 hours): Choose your scenario, then write A and B.
- Evening two (about 1.5 hours): Write C and C1, then sketch your prototype.
- Evening three (about 2 hours): Finish and label the prototype, then write E and E1.
- Evening four (about 1 hour): Write F, add citations, run Grammarly, and review the similarity report.
Common Reasons D428 Task 1 Comes Back
- A states conclusions instead of explaining how to gather information, and from whom
- B describes a solution instead of the problem
- C gives two versions of one idea, or C1 doesn’t explain why one is superior
- The prototype is missing labels, or doesn’t show enough to test the solution
- E lists goals instead of implementation steps
- E1 has no measure of success, or no limitation
- F gives only a positive outcome
Pre-Submission Checklist
Run this check against your D428 WGU task directions before you submit:
- One SmokyWoods scenario chosen
- A explains the empathy method, the missing information, and the sources
- B summarizes the problem without proposing a solution
- C gives two distinct solutions, and C1 explains why one is superior
- D is a low-fidelity prototype with all appropriate labels
- E lists implementation steps, and E1 gives success measures and a limitation
- F gives one positive and one negative outcome
- Sources are cited in text and listed in APA format
Related WGU Guides
- For operations decisions that follow the same weigh the options logic, see our WGU C215 operations management guide.
- For communicating a recommendation to leadership, see our WGU C204 management communication guide.
- Ethics carries into decisions like these. See our WGU C717 Task 1 guide.
- For evaluating solutions with data, see our D472 Task 1 guide and D473 Task 1 guide, and our D473 capstone support page.
- For an MBA capstone that pitches a business plan, see our WGU C219 Task 1 guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is WGU D428 Task 1?
It’s the EGN1 Task 1 performance assessment in D428, Design Thinking for Business. You choose one of two SmokyWoods Amusement Park scenarios and apply the five stages of design thinking, from empathy to testing.
Which D428 scenario should I choose?
The one whose users you can picture most clearly. Scenario 1 is about choosing between one roller coaster and several family rides; Scenario 2 is about balancing sponsors and pop star partners after an attendance drop.
What counts as a low-fidelity prototype in D428?
The directions name an outline, an image, or a storyboard. It should be simple, show enough detail to test the solution, and include all appropriate labels.
Do I need sources for D428 Task 1?
Cite anything you quote, paraphrase, or summarize, including the scenario as your course directs and any research on design thinking.
How is design thinking for business D428 different from a business plan?
Design thinking starts with users’ needs and tests a simple prototype before committing, while a business plan usually starts from a chosen solution. The rubric checks that you follow the stages in order.
Can I submit the D428 Task 1 example from this page?
No. It applies design thinking to a fictitious ice rink, not SmokyWoods, and it’s for illustration only.
Want a Second Look Before You Submit?
If you’re working full time and want structured assignment support planning your empathy research, sharpening your problem statement, or labeling a prototype so it’s ready to test, message Gradevia on WhatsApp at +1 564 544 6924 or email Support@gradevia.com.
Sources
Geissdoerfer, M., Savaget, P., Bocken, N., & Hultink, E. J. (2022). Prototyping, experimentation, and piloting in the business model context. Industrial Marketing Management, 102, 564–575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.12.008