CES Framework

Yet another canvas for documentiong your solutions.

The CES Framework begins with identifying issues in the existing system. Unlike the traditional Cause-Effect approach, often visualized using a Fishbone Diagram, the CES method analyzes existing system problems through structured canvases or templates such as:

• Business Model Canvas ( BMC)
• Platform Design Canvas (PDC)
• User-Centered Design Canvas (UCDC)

To use the CES Framework, students are asked to complete three columns:

1. Cause – What is the root of the problem?
2. Effect – What impact does the problem have?
3. Solution – What can be done to resolve the issue?

Case Study: Health Service Problems

To illustrate how CES works in practice, here is a real case study analyzing health service problems. Remember: fill each box with simple statements, not paragraphs.

Let us break down each cause.

Cause #1: Registration Fee Not Refundable. In many health service facilities, patients are required to pay a registration fee upfront before seeing a doctor. If the doctor is unavailable, the appointment is canceled, or the patient decides not to proceed, that fee is gone. No refund. No credit. The patient walks away with nothing but a lighter wallet. This is not a rare edge case. It happens daily in clinics and hospitals across the country, and for low-income patients, even a small non-refundable fee is a real financial burden.

Cause #2: Biometric Doesn't Work. Indonesia has invested heavily in biometric citizen identification. Since 2009, every citizen applying for the electronic citizen card (e-KTP) has their retina and fingerprint scanned. The e-KTP itself has a chip embedded in it. In theory, this means any Indonesian citizen should be able to verify their identity biometrically at a health service facility, even if they forgot to bring their physical card. The data is already in the system. The fingerprint is already stored. The infrastructure exists. But in practice, it does not work. Biometric readers at hospitals and clinics frequently fail to recognize fingerprints. The interoperability between the national identity database and health service registration systems is unreliable. So when a patient shows up without their e-KTP and the biometric reader rejects their finger, they cannot register. They cannot access their insurance (BPJS). They cannot proceed with treatment. A system that was designed to make identity verification seamless becomes a wall. The citizen did everything right (registered, scanned, got the card), and still gets stuck because the technology fails at the point of service.

Cause #3: Medical Record Not Accessible. A patient visits Hospital A for a diagnosis, then goes to Hospital B for a second opinion. Hospital B has no access to Hospital A's records. The patient must repeat tests, re-explain their history, and hope nothing gets lost in translation. Worse, if a doctor at Hospital B prescribes medication that conflicts with what Hospital A already prescribed, the patient is at risk of mistreatment. The medical record exists somewhere, but the patient cannot access it, and neither can the doctor who needs it most. Here is the irony: Indonesian law already recognizes that medical records belong to the patient. Minister of Health Regulation No. 24 of 2022 on Medical Records (Peraturan Menteri Kesehatan Nomor 24 Tahun 2022 tentang Rekam Medis), released on August 31, 2022, states in Article 26 Paragraph 1 that the content of medical records belongs to the patient. The regulation exists. The right is established. But in practice, mostly patients still cannot walk into a hospital and request their complete medical history in a portable digital format (like pdf or mobile apps). The law says it is yours. The system says "good luck" getting it.

Here the an example complete entries of CES Canvas base on previous case study.

Notice the pattern: each Cause produces an Effect, and each Effect demands a Solution. One Cause can have many Effects, and one Effect can have many Solutions. But at minimum, every row is 1:1:1. But if the "Cause" has 2 effect. Just write "1.1,1.2" on effect column. But in Solution column, we must define a solution in each statement in "effect". So it would be "1.1.1" for solution of 1.1. effect. Then 1.1.2 for solution of 1.2. Just keep it simple statement to define cause-effect-solution. No needs a paragraph, because CES Canvas means to be presented.

This CES phase is the initial step before defining functional and non-functional features for the platform to be developed.

The objective of implementing the CES framework is to help students more easily define practical solutions to real-world problems, serving as a foundational part of both prototyping and case-based learning.

Here the video introduction why CES Framework and what is CES Canvas. At this time, it is only available in Bahasa Indonesia. Here the video: