# Current-state discovery from real usage evidence

*Business Analyst Study Guide · Customer Discovery · Last updated October 15, 2026 · https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/business-analyst/customer-discovery/current-state-discovery-from-real-usage-evidence*

How a business analyst establishes the current state from evidence rather than opinion: usage and login data, observation, product and license inventory, cross-product hand-offs and spreadsheet workarounds, and how to scope that review when time is short.

- Certification: Salesforce Business Analyst
- Exam section: Customer Discovery
- Study guide: https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/business-analyst

**Official exam objective:**

> Discover how a customer is leveraging existing products to establish the current state.

## What the exam expects

- Explain why current-state analysis is worth the time, and answer a sponsor who wants to skip it.
- Pick the sources that show how products are really used: login and usage data, record activity, and observation of people at work.
- Reconcile a gap between what stakeholders say and what the org shows, by confirming with the people who do the work.
- Inventory products and licenses by team and process, and document how data moves between products, including manual hand-offs.
- Treat workarounds such as spreadsheets as part of the current state and find out why they exist.
- Scope the depth of the review by goal impact when time is short.

Key terms: **current state** (how the business works today, documented before scoping change); **adoption metrics** (login rates, record creation and updates); **job shadowing** or observation (watching people do the work); **workaround** or shadow system (work done outside the intended process, such as a spreadsheet); **hand-off** (where work or data passes between people or systems).

## Key facts

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Early adoption indicators | Login rates, record creation, record updates | [Measure Salesforce Usage](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/user-adoption-metrics/measure-salesforce-usage) |
| Login History | Up to 20,000 records for the past 6 months; download for more | [Monitor Login History](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sf.users_login_history.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Login History permission | Monitor Login History or Manage Users | [Monitor Login History](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sf.users_login_history.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Lightning Usage App | Active users, most-viewed pages, active user, feature and permission set licenses | [Lightning Usage App](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?language=en_US&id=xcloud.lex_lightning_usage_app.htm&type=5) |
| License views | Company Information (point in time) or Digital Wallet License Utilization (real time, by product) | [View Your Org's User Licenses](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?language=en_US&id=platform.users_license_types_view.htm&type=5) |
| Shadow systems | Spreadsheets users maintain may signal adoption blockers | [Measure Salesforce Usage](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/user-adoption-metrics/measure-salesforce-usage) |
| When to analyse current state | Before scoping, when the current process isn't well understood | [Explore Documentation Types](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/business-analyst_skills-strategies/learn-documentation-types-importance-documentation) |
| Draft map | Start from existing documentation, then complete it with the workers | [Learn the Customs of Your Customer](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/business-analyst-best-practices/learn-the-customs-of-your-customer) |

## Check yourself

- Why is job shadowing needed when login and usage data are already available?
- When should a BA analyse and document the current state?
- How far back does the Login History page go?
- Why record a spreadsheet workaround instead of excluding it?

## Sources

- [Measure Salesforce Usage](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/user-adoption-metrics/measure-salesforce-usage)
- [Learn the Customs of Your Customer](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/business-analyst-best-practices/learn-the-customs-of-your-customer)
- [Monitor Login History](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sf.users_login_history.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Get Lightning Experience Adoption Insights with the Lightning Usage App](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?language=en_US&id=xcloud.lex_lightning_usage_app.htm&type=5)
- [View Your Org's User Licenses](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?language=en_US&id=platform.users_license_types_view.htm&type=5)
- [Exploring the Salesforce BA Role](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/salesforce-business-analyst-quick-look/learn-about-the-salesforce-business-analyst-role)
- [Explore Techniques for Information Discovery](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/business-analyst_skills-strategies/explore-techniques--information-discovery)
- [Explore Documentation Types](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/business-analyst_skills-strategies/learn-documentation-types-importance-documentation)
- [Understand the Value of Business Analysis](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/business-process-mapping/understand-the-value-of-business-analysis)
- [Get Started with Process Mapping](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/process-mapping-for-business-analysts/get-started-with-process-mapping)

## About the full unit

The "Core concepts", "Exam traps" and "Worked scenario" sections of this unit, its 9 linked practice questions, and unlimited timed mock exams are included with the Business Analyst pack (USD $19): https://www.certifyforce.com/practice-exams