What to examine in inception

The decisions taken before anything is built, and the operating consequences they quietly fix in place.

6 domains. Each one names a question with a checkable answer. A domain you cannot answer is uncovered, whatever the assurance plan says about it.

For what actually happens at this stage, and the writing on it, see Inception & Development.

Need and outcome

Is there a stated outcome this asset is meant to produce, written down separately from a description of the asset itself?

4 things to examine4 published requirements3 articles

Are the criteria by which options were chosen written down, and is it recorded who was entitled to choose?

5 things to examine3 published requirements4 articles

Does the estimate state the class it was produced at, and does that class match the scope definition actually achieved?

5 things to examine3 published requirements2 articles

Has the cost of owning this asset been estimated by, or at least shown to, the people who will have to pay it?

4 things to examine4 published requirements4 articles

Has the owner stated what it will need to know in order to run this asset, before the design that produces the information begins?

4 things to examine2 published requirements3 articles

Who is entitled to stop this, and have they ever been given information that would let them?

4 things to examine3 published requirements2 articles

Correspondence

If something here is wrong, that is worth more than agreement.

Material errors are corrected on the affected pages. Messages are used to reply, not to build a mailing list.