Access and responsibility
A useful discovery sample should reveal the task without exposing the customer
Prepare demonstration records that preserve the difficult decision while removing unnecessary real information.
A supplier asks to see how the business handles work. Sending a complete customer export may seem faster than preparing examples, but it can expose information that has no bearing on the project question.
Keep the relationship between the facts
For a fictional Estonia-connected organisation, prepare a request with a missing document, one that was corrected and one that changed owner. Use invented names, contact details and identifiers. Preserve the sequence that makes each case useful to discuss.
A random table of neat examples can hide the real difficulty. If the task involves two records that staff often confuse, make that relationship visible in the fictional set rather than supplying only perfect cases.
Explain what the sample represents
Write a short note describing the original process, what was changed for the demonstration and which question each example should answer. A developer should not mistake a fictional reference or simplified field for the production rule.
The EDPB's small-business guide helps frame data-protection questions. Removing names alone does not establish that a real dataset is anonymous or safe to share. When actual records are necessary, the responsible people need to agree an appropriate arrangement first.
Ask someone else to use it
Have a colleague follow the sample without an oral explanation. Can they identify the missing decision and the expected result? Adjust the examples until they support a focused conversation while keeping private customer material out of the initial exchange.
A business application project can begin with these records. They make discovery more concrete and can later support review, provided everyone understands their deliberately limited scope.
Further reading: EDPB guidance for small businesses.