The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions

A product idea may already have a sponsor, roadmap slot or prototype. Before committing more money, establish whose need it addresses, how it could create value and whether another approach would work better. Include the people and costs needed to run the result after launch.

Use the Product Opportunity Sprint to compare the available evidence about one opportunity. Check user needs, the market, commercial value, workflow, technology and the ability to run the result. Leadership then decides whether to build, buy, change, test, defer or stop. A build or buy decision authorises only the next separately approved evidence and investment step. It does not approve procurement or delivery, or prove that people will adopt the product or receive value.

This is a PROPOSED Abrasim decision-support working methodology. It is not full product or market validation, a technology selection, an MVP definition, a production architecture, a software business case, partner due diligence, delivery governance, legal or privacy advice, security or accessibility assurance, or a forecast of demand, adoption, cost, revenue, margin or service improvement. User need, commercial relevance, feasibility, operability, economics and future outcomes remain REQUIRES VALIDATION until authorised organisation-specific evidence establishes them.

Executive decision card: complete before protecting the idea

1. The Market Connection Context

The buyer recognises the problem when a proposed app, platform, internal tool, service capability or product extension has acquired more certainty than the evidence beneath it.

Typical conditions include:

• roadmap language and supplier discussions already assume a solution while users and current alternatives are described through stakeholder opinion;
• positive interview comments are treated as evidence of behaviour, urgency, willingness to change or willingness to pay;
• an internal tool is justified by visible manual effort without observing exceptions, control needs or why the work exists;
• a prototype makes one interaction tangible but leaves commercial, data, integration, support and adoption conditions unresolved;
• build, buy and integration estimates are being compared before the problem boundary and decision criteria are accepted;
• a feature list combines several users, outcomes and workflows so no first investment can produce a clear learning decision;
• finance sees potential upside without an accepted baseline, unit, population, period, cost basis or attribution limit;
• delivery has a preferred path, but no named person owns operation, support, benefits, incidents, change or retirement.

The market connection is not the idea itself. A person or organisation experiences a need in a context. They use a current behaviour, service, product, workaround or non-consumption alternative. An intervention asks them, or the people serving them, to act differently. That changed behaviour or work must produce a usable outcome, survive the operating environment and earn continued support. If any transition is assumed, product activity can grow while value remains unproven.

The value path this sprint protects

The primary whole-business value path is Market need and investment → adopted, supportable value. The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions governs the decision to take a bounded next step on that path. It does not claim that a sprint, prototype, supplier or product completes the path.

Six opportunity-decision lenses

Assess each lens for the bounded opportunity. Do not convert the set into one automatic opportunity score.

A material gap does not always mean stop. It may support a narrow validation or enabling decision. A legal, safety, security, accessibility, privacy, employment, customer or financial-control concern cannot be cancelled by a favourable score elsewhere.

Use this causal chain for every material finding:

Recognisable idea or operating condition → break or uncertainty in the need-to-value path → user, customer or operating consequence → potential revenue, margin, cost, capacity, retention, risk, investment-efficiency or service-value exposure → evidence required to quantify it → dated build, buy, change, test, defer or stop disposition.

The potential economic effect is REQUIRES VALIDATION until the organisation accepts the mechanism, affected unit, baseline, period, population, source, lifecycle burden and attribution limits.

The decision to make

Complete this statement before evidence collection:

By [decision date], [named opportunity decision owner] will decide whether [bounded opportunity] should [build through a separately approved next phase, buy/configure/integrate through option diligence, change without a new product, run a bounded test, defer, or stop] to improve or protect [named user, customer, service or operating outcome], subject to [evidence, investment, accessibility, privacy, security, technical, people and operating conditions].

The decision date closes or re-charters this opportunity sprint. It is not a delivery estimate or a promise that a later product will launch.

When to use this method

Use the sprint when:

• a specific product, platform, internal-tool or major-capability idea has momentum but the need-to-value evidence is incomplete;
• leadership must reconcile user, customer, commercial, workflow, technical and operating views in one decision;
• a supplier proposal or prototype exists before the underlying problem and alternatives have been accepted;
• several proportionate routes, including no product, could address the same condition;
• the next investment should be bounded around one material uncertainty or one deeper diligence path;
• stakeholders need a common evidence record, explicit disagreement and a named disposition rather than workshop alignment alone;
• the potential downside, cross-functional dependency or investment is material enough to require executive control.

Do not use the full method when:

• an immediate safety, security, privacy, legal, accessibility or customer-harm issue requires containment by an authorised specialist;
• a small, reversible and already-defined configuration change has one owner, trusted evidence and a complete acceptance test;
• leadership has already approved a route through evidence fit for the decision and the actual need is detailed validation, architecture, business case, procurement or delivery governance;
• the sponsor will not allow current-state, process-change, buy, no-build, defer or stop options;
• no one will own the decision, evidence access, operating outcome or follow-on gate;
• relevant users or workflow participants cannot be represented through an authorised and ethically acceptable evidence route;
• the sprint would create more decision burden than the bounded investment warrants.

Scope, exclusions and dependencies

The scope names one executive opportunity decision, the affected users and market or service context, the current behaviour or workflow, the option classes in view, the evidence cut-off, the six lenses, material exclusions, decision forum and follow-on authority. If materially different users, value mechanisms, data, workflows or consequences are bundled into one idea, create separate opportunity records.

Material exclusions include full product/problem validation; detailed build-buy-configure-integrate diligence; final prototype, proof-of-concept, concierge-test or MVP taxonomy; product portfolio and roadmap governance; solution architecture and non-functional requirements; full lifecycle business case; partner appointment; delivery governance; production acceptance; and post-launch adoption, operability or scale. The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions may identify which of these is required. It does not perform or approve it.

Dependencies normally include an economic buyer, opportunity decision owner, product lead, affected-user or service representation, workflow or journey owner, finance/commercial owner, CIO/CTO or delegated technical authority, operating owner, and applicable privacy, security, accessibility, legal, employee, procurement or sector authorities. Evidence access must be lawful, proportionate, safe and capable of preserving limitations and dissent.

Expected result

A completed sprint should leave leadership with:

• an approved opportunity charter, decision rights and current commitment or solution-momentum record;
• a bounded definition of affected users, context, current behaviour, workflow and alternatives;
• an evidence and assumptions register with proof status, limitations and contradictions;
• an accepted need-to-value mechanism and explicit economic evidence gaps;
• comparable current-state, change, buy/configure/integrate, build, test, defer and stop routes where relevant;
• decision-level findings across the six lenses, without pretending deeper diligence has occurred;
• a small set of material uncertainties and the evidence gate that could change the decision;
• a bounded first-use or next-phase outcome, non-goals and operating conditions when progression is justified;
• an executive disposition, rejected alternatives, dissent, accepted exposure and handover;
• complete measure definitions and dated review, change and stop controls.

These are decision artefacts, not proof of demand, viability, feasibility, adoption, delivery cost, operating performance or commercial outcome.

Where The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions stops and the next standard begins

The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions may recommend a route into these standards. It cannot approve its own follow-on work, and the same partner may not self-certify evidence it created.

2. The Leadership vs. Delegation Boundary

The sprint can be led internally. The relevant question is whether the organisation can provide cross-functional authority, protected access to affected people and operating evidence, independent challenge to the preferred idea, and capacity to complete a decision rather than produce another backlog.

When an internal team is sufficient

An internal team can lead when the economic buyer will reconsider the proposed solution; product, user/service, commercial, workflow, technical and operating owners can work from one charter; affected users or their legitimate representatives can participate safely; finance can challenge the value mechanism; evidence owners can grant controlled access; and a senior challenger has no incentive to protect the idea.

Use a narrower specialist where the uncertainty is already isolated. A researcher may test a contested need, an architect may examine one integration constraint, an accessibility specialist may evaluate an affected journey, or procurement may clarify one supplier condition. The opportunity sprint should not become a wrapper around work whose decision and evidence threshold are already known.

When an independent senior partner is justified

Independent leadership is proportionate when:

• the idea crosses product, customer, commercial, operations, data, technology and risk owners;
• a founder, executive, internal team or supplier is materially committed to one route;
• evidence is distributed, definitions are contested or user and operating consequences are politically difficult to surface;
• a consequential investment needs a comparable option set and retained reasons for stop or no-build;
• the organisation lacks temporary senior capacity to run controlled research, reconcile evidence and close the decision;
• the output must remain usable by a different validation, architecture, procurement or delivery team.

If these conditions apply, Abrasim can lead the Product Opportunity Sprint and leave the organisation with the decision evidence, bounded options, open uncertainties, artefacts and ownership. Where the condition is narrow and evidence is trusted, an internal team or focused specialist is more proportionate. Any later validation, diligence, design, business case, partner appointment, delivery or operation requires a separate scope and gate.

An external partner must disclose product-build, supplier, platform, referral, reseller and implementation interests. It may recommend a follow-on route but cannot accept the organisation’s risk, approve its own evidence or turn its preferred service into the only option.

Conditions that stop or narrow the work

Stop, contain or re-charter when:

• research, observation, data access or testing would breach authority, consent, privacy, security, accessibility, safety, contract or employee/customer protection;
• the decision owner, decision date, affected user or market connection cannot be named;
• the solution is fixed and contrary evidence cannot change scope, route or investment;
• material user, commercial, technical or operating evidence is unavailable and no bounded validation is authorised;
• a proposed test would expose people, data, money, service or reputation beyond the authorised boundary;
• there is no credible operating owner or capacity for the next action;
• several unrelated opportunities cannot be separated into coherent decisions;
• further sprint activity cannot change the disposition.

Record every stop with the evidence, reason, affected scope, accepted exposure, containment, owner and condition for restart.

Decision and escalation route

Questions for evaluating a provider

1. Which bounded executive investment decision will this sprint resolve?
2. How will you separate the affected need, behaviour and workflow from the proposed product?
3. How will affected users, non-users, accessibility needs and current alternatives be represented?
4. Which evidence will you treat as observed, inferred, proposed or requiring validation?
5. How will you challenge founder, executive, supplier and delivery-team commitment to one route?
6. Which current-state, process/service change, buy/configure/integrate, build, test, defer and stop options will be compared?
7. How will you keep preliminary feasibility screening separate from The Build, Buy, Configure, Integrate or Stop Decision: An Executive Technology Investment Playbook and The Solution Architecture and Non-Functional Requirements Standard: Designing for Supportable Value diligence?
8. How will you prevent a prototype or MVP label from substituting for an evidence question?
9. Which commercial claims require finance-approved baselines, units, periods and lifecycle burden?
10. What user, privacy, security, accessibility, employee or service conditions require qualified authority?
11. What can make you recommend stop, defer or a non-product change?
12. Which source records, decision logs and templates remain usable by another qualified team?
13. What is excluded, and which later A5 standard would govern each approved next phase?

3. The Step-by-Step Execution Standard

Run the sequence against one opportunity decision. Use separate records where users, contexts, value mechanisms, workflows, data permissions or consequences are materially different.

Step 01: Charter the opportunity decision

Purpose and decision served Turn product momentum into one dated build, buy, change, test, defer or stop question that contrary evidence can alter.

Accountable owner Economic buyer, normally the Founder or equivalent investment authority; a named Product Sponsor owns the decision process.

Delegated lead and contributors Sprint lead facilitates. Product, user/service, commercial, workflow, technical, operating and applicable risk owners contribute to the boundary.

Preconditions, inputs and access A recognisable idea or need, named sponsor, intended affected people, known commitments, available evidence and a forum capable of deciding.

Actions

1. Write the important decision using the Section 1 pattern.
2. Name the affected person, context, current condition and value-path transition without using a feature as the problem.
3. Set the evidence cut-off, decision date, option classes, exclusions, burden limit and available dispositions.
4. Record what investment, roadmap, supplier or reputation commitment already exists and whether it can be changed.
5. Define the conditions that narrow, re-charter or stop the sprint.

Evidence to retain Approved mandate, opportunity statement, current evidence references, commitment disclosures, decision-forum authority and dissent.

Decision or scoring rule Charter only when the question is consequential, bounded and genuinely open to no-build, defer or stop. Do not score enthusiasm.

Output and template The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions opportunity charter and commitment register, beginning with Charter and Commitment rows.

Acceptance gate Proceed when the economic buyer confirms that evidence can change the route and investment; otherwise narrow, re-charter or stop.

Leadership checkpoint The economic buyer approves the decision, boundary, authority, evidence burden and spend or capacity ceiling for the sprint.

Human control point Only the named opportunity decision owner may change the decision question or treat an existing commitment as non-negotiable.

Failure modes and safeguards Feature language can hide the condition; the sponsor can preselect build; broad scope can prevent closure. Rewrite around the person and outcome, expose commitment and split different opportunities.

Change, stop or escalation condition Stop if the decision is symbolic, the route is fixed, no affected person or value mechanism can be named, or no forum will act on the output.

Handoff to the next step Transfer the approved charter, commitment rows and open authority questions to Step 02.

Step 02: Assign authority, access and independent challenge

Purpose and decision served Make decision rights, evidence authority, conflicts and non-delegable specialist responsibilities explicit before people or systems are accessed.

Accountable owner Product Sponsor; the economic buyer confirms final authority and the CIO or relevant executive confirms technical authority.

Delegated lead and contributors Sprint lead coordinates. User/service, research, workflow, finance, data, security, accessibility, privacy, people, legal, procurement and operating owners participate where applicable.

Preconditions, inputs and access Approved charter, organisational decision rights, source inventory, participant groups, current suppliers and known product/build interests.

Actions

1. Assign the four-way responsibility boundary to named roles.
2. Record who recommends, approves, can block, accepts evidence, accepts risk and owns the later outcome.
3. Define lawful and ethical routes for observation, research, evidence retention and supplier access.
4. Declare product, delivery, platform, supplier, referral and career interests; set recusal or independent-challenge controls.
5. Confirm escalation for user harm, privacy, security, accessibility, employment, financial and sector issues.

Evidence to retain Responsibility map, authority references, access approvals, information-handling route, conflict disclosures, recusals and escalation contacts.

Decision or scoring rule No material evidence source, user group, risk acceptance or final disposition may be owned only by the party proposing or selling the solution.

Output and template The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions opportunity charter and commitment register, using Authority, Access and Conflict rows.

Acceptance gate Proceed when every decision-critical authority, access route and material conflict has an owner and disposition; otherwise narrow, mitigate, defer or stop.

Leadership checkpoint The sponsor resolves unavailable authorities, refused access and conflicts that could invalidate the decision.

Human control point Qualified organisational authorities retain legal, privacy, security, accessibility, financial, employee and sector decisions.

Failure modes and safeguards A workshop committee can diffuse authority; a supplier can control evidence; research can expose people. Name individuals, retain source control and use approved participation and information routes.

Change, stop or escalation condition Contain and escalate unauthorised access, unsafe participation, undisclosed material interests or a decision-right conflict that the sponsor cannot resolve.

Handoff to the next step Transfer the approved authority, access and challenge plan to Step 03 for the current-momentum inventory.

Step 03: Inventory commitments, current solutions and idea momentum

Purpose and decision served Expose what has already been promised, purchased, prototyped or socially committed so sunk effort and supplier framing do not become opportunity evidence.

Accountable owner Product Sponsor; procurement, finance and CIO/CTO own their authoritative commitment records.

Delegated lead and contributors Sprint lead and evidence coordinator inventory. Product, delivery, architecture, procurement, finance, legal and operating owners validate entries.

Preconditions, inputs and access Roadmaps, budgets, contracts, prototypes, proposals, licences, internal announcements, research repositories, architecture notes and current product/service records.

Actions

1. Register each relevant roadmap, budget, supplier, prototype, licence, deadline and public or internal commitment separately.
2. Record the claimed problem, intended user, route assumed, evidence cited, owner and ability to amend or cancel.
3. Inventory current products, services, manual workarounds, non-consumption and abandoned attempts addressing the condition.
4. Separate incurred cost from future justification and label supplier or stakeholder claims by proof status.
5. Decide whether any commitment requires containment, parallel operation, expiry or explicit exclusion from the sprint.

Evidence to retain Versioned roadmap and budget references, contracts, proposal extracts, prototype purpose, current-system evidence, ownership and cancellation constraints.

Decision or scoring rule Treat commitment as a constraint or option input, never as proof of need, value, feasibility or future success.

Output and template The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions opportunity charter and commitment register, using Current solution and Commitment rows.

Acceptance gate Proceed when material momentum and current alternatives are visible and can be challenged; otherwise validate, contain, narrow or stop.

Leadership checkpoint The economic buyer confirms which commitments remain constraints, which can change and which require a separate contractual or governance decision.

Human control point Only authorised procurement, legal, finance and product owners interpret commitments and approve amendment, termination or disclosure.

Failure modes and safeguards Teams can omit shadow prototypes, protect sunk cost or treat a deadline as demand. Reconcile several owners, retain dated records and record dissent.

Change, stop or escalation condition Escalate a binding contract, public commitment, unapproved live use or material sunk-cost pressure that changes the charter or creates immediate exposure.

Handoff to the next step Transfer the chartered opportunity, current alternatives and momentum constraints to Step 04 for affected-person definition.

Step 04: Define affected people, contexts and current behaviour

Purpose and decision served Establish whose need or work matters to the opportunity, where it occurs and what behaviour or alternative exists now without assuming the proposed product.

Accountable owner Product Sponsor; the user, customer or service authority accepts the affected-person boundary.

Delegated lead and contributors Research or service-design lead facilitates. Product, frontline, customer/service, accessibility, data and workflow representatives contribute under approved participation routes.

Preconditions, inputs and access Approved charter, participant authority, existing segmentation or service definitions, current research, support/sales/service records and accessibility or inclusion considerations.

Actions

1. Define primary, secondary, indirect and potentially excluded or harmed people by relevant behaviour and context rather than convenient demographics alone.
2. Record the situation, desired progress or outcome, current behaviour, current alternative, barrier, frequency or trigger and consequence as separate evidence questions.
3. Distinguish stakeholder requests from affected-person evidence and recent behaviour from stated preference.
4. Identify people who do not use the current service, cannot access it, abandon it or rely on assisted and offline routes.
5. Set the representation, sample, access, consent, safety and evidence limitations for the sprint; route a full validation need to The Product Problem and Market Validation Standard: Proving Need Before Solution.

Evidence to retain Affected-person definitions, recruitment or representation rationale, existing behavioural and service evidence, recent examples, access needs, exclusions and source limitations.

Decision or scoring rule Accept a group only when its relationship to the condition and decision is explicit. A stakeholder assertion may identify a question but cannot by itself verify user need.

Output and template The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions user, workflow and evidence register, beginning with Affected person, Need condition and Current behaviour rows.

Acceptance gate Proceed when the relevant people, contexts, alternatives and evidence limitations are accepted; otherwise expand representation, validate, narrow or stop.

Leadership checkpoint The Product Sponsor confirms that inconvenient, less visible and affected non-user groups are not excluded merely to protect the opportunity.

Human control point The research and applicable customer, employee, accessibility and information authorities control participation, consent, safeguarding and evidence use.

Failure modes and safeguards Convenience participants, personas without sources and favourable quotes can manufacture certainty. Retain sampling logic, behavioural evidence, contrary cases and limitations.

Change, stop or escalation condition Stop or re-charter if affected people cannot be represented safely, the opportunity serves only an internal stakeholder request, or materially different contexts require separate decisions.

Handoff to the next step Transfer accepted people, contexts, current behaviour and evidence questions to Step 05 for journey and workflow observation.

Step 05: Observe the current journey, workflow and alternatives

Purpose and decision served Show how the condition occurs end to end, what people do today and whether the apparent product gap is actually a process, policy, service, information or ownership condition.

Accountable owner Journey, service or workflow owner; the Product Sponsor accepts the boundary relevant to the opportunity.

Delegated lead and contributors Research/service-design or workflow lead observes. Affected users, frontline staff, operations, support, sales, data and control owners explain actual work and exceptions.

Preconditions, inputs and access Affected-person boundary, approved observation route, representative cases, current products/services, process records, support contacts, exceptions and relevant service evidence.

Actions

1. Trace from trigger through information, task, decision, handoff, exception, control and outcome for representative contexts.
2. Record direct observation separately from participant explanation and analyst interpretation.
3. Map current alternatives: existing product, manual work, assisted service, competing service, delay, workaround, non-consumption or abandonment.
4. Identify where the person, frontline team, downstream recipient or operating function bears effort, delay, risk or exclusion.
5. Compare the proposed product premise with process, policy, information, training, service and existing-capability explanations.

Evidence to retain Journey/workflow nodes, observations, case or event references, handoffs, exceptions, control purpose, alternative behaviours, participant statements and limitations.

Decision or scoring rule A workflow or journey finding requires an observed or authoritative condition, affected transition and credible alternative explanation. Do not infer root cause from one workshop.

Output and template The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions user, workflow and evidence register, using Journey/workflow node, Handoff, Observation and Current alternative rows.

Acceptance gate Proceed when the real current path, exceptions, alternatives and affected value transition are accepted within stated limits; otherwise observe more, narrow, validate or stop.

Leadership checkpoint The Product Sponsor and operating owner accept where the condition is visible and which non-product explanations remain credible.

Human control point Affected people and workflow owners validate factual representation; authorised control owners decide whether a step can be removed or changed.

Failure modes and safeguards Happy-path maps hide assisted routes, rework and downstream burden; observation can be unrepresentative. Include exception cases, preserve sample limits and seek contrary evidence.

Change, stop or escalation condition Escalate immediate harm or a material control failure. Re-charter when the observed condition sits outside the opportunity or several independent problems were bundled.

Handoff to the next step Transfer the accepted current path, alternatives and evidence references to Step 06 for reconciliation.

Step 06: Reconcile evidence, baselines and assumptions

Purpose and decision served Create one controlled evidence position showing what is verified, inferred, proposed, missing or contradictory before opportunity conclusions are formed.

Accountable owner Product Sponsor for decision use; source owners remain accountable for source accuracy and finance/commercial owners for accepted economic definitions.

Delegated lead and contributors Evidence coordinator reconciles. Research, analytics, service/workflow, support, sales, finance, data, technical, procurement and operating owners validate relevant records.

Preconditions, inputs and access Charter, affected-person definition, current journey/workflow, source inventory, authoritative records, research notes, prior experiments, contracts and source-owner access.

Actions

1. Register one material evidence item per row with source, version, period, population, collection method, owner, proof status and limitation.
2. Reconcile definitions for person, event, need, use, completion, outcome, cost, revenue or service unit before comparing evidence.
3. Separate observed fact, single-source statement, corroborated interpretation, assumption, evidence gap and constraint.
4. Establish an accepted baseline where evidence permits; otherwise record baseline required and the decision that cannot yet be made.
5. Record contradictions, missing affected groups, survivorship or selection limits, supplier claims and alternative explanations.
6. Prioritise only gaps that could reverse or materially narrow the opportunity disposition.

Evidence to retain Source extracts, definitions, reconciliations, calculations, interview/observation controls, proof classifications, conflicting evidence, limitations and owner decisions.

Decision or scoring rule Evidence is decision-grade only for the claim, population, period and use it can support. Volume of material does not increase proof status.

Output and template The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions user, workflow and evidence register, using Evidence, Baseline, Limitation and Assumption rows.

Acceptance gate Proceed when each decision-critical claim has accepted evidence or an explicit gap with a bounded decision effect; otherwise reconcile, validate, defer or stop the claim.

Leadership checkpoint The decision owner accepts which claims are usable, which remain assumptions and which uncertainty requires a separate evidence gate.

Human control point Source owners approve definitions and limitations; finance, information and other qualified authorities retain their respective conclusions.

Failure modes and safeguards Dashboards can hide incompatible populations; interviews can be promoted to demand; prototype use can be misread as adoption. Retain definition contracts, context and alternative explanations.

Change, stop or escalation condition Stop quantification when no compatible baseline or source exists. Escalate unauthorised data, material contradiction, fabricated evidence or an interpretation outside team competence.

Handoff to the next step Transfer the reconciled evidence, baseline status and decision-critical assumptions to Step 07 for diagnosis.

Step 07: Diagnose the opportunity and value mechanism

Purpose and decision served Convert evidence into a bounded finding about whether a meaningful need or operating condition exists and how changing it could plausibly create value.

Accountable owner Product Sponsor; the economic buyer accepts the decision use and the finance/commercial or service owner accepts the value mechanism within limits.

Delegated lead and contributors Sprint lead synthesises. Research, product, commercial, workflow, technical, operating and affected-authority contributors test causes and alternatives.

Preconditions, inputs and access Reconciled evidence register, accepted current journey/workflow, baseline status, affected-person boundary, constraints and open assumptions.

Actions

1. Write each finding as condition, affected person/context, value-path transition, consequence, evidence, explanation and credible alternative.
2. Separate need evidence from urgency, organisational priority, willingness to change, commercial value and technical feasibility.
3. State the mechanism linking changed behaviour or work to customer, service or economic value; identify every unverified link.
4. Compare the finding with process, policy, information, ownership, service, existing-product and no-action explanations.
5. Record potential economic exposure only with the unit, population, baseline, period, source, lifecycle burden and attribution limits required to quantify it.
6. Decide whether the opportunity is unsupported, needs validation, merits options work or should be reframed as a non-product change.

Evidence to retain Finding statements, linked evidence IDs, causal map, alternative explanations, dissent, baseline and value-definition decisions, uncertainty and decision use.

Decision or scoring rule Accept a finding only when evidence supports the condition and value-path consequence, alternatives are visible, and a named decision can use it. Plausibility is not proof of value.

Output and template The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions user, workflow and evidence register, using Finding, Value mechanism and Validation need rows.

Acceptance gate Proceed when leadership accepts at least one decision-grade finding or a bounded validation need; otherwise reframe, defer or stop.

Leadership checkpoint The economic buyer accepts the finding set, potential value mechanism, unquantified links and reasons an opportunity may not deserve product investment.

Human control point Only the economic buyer or delegated forum can accept material exposure and strategic fit; affected authorities retain harm and specialist decisions.

Failure modes and safeguards Opportunity language can combine several unproven links or treat a desired outcome as causal evidence. Use one finding per mechanism and label every inference.

Change, stop or escalation condition Stop when no meaningful condition or value mechanism survives evidence review. Re-charter when a different problem or non-product change is the defensible opportunity.

Handoff to the next step Transfer accepted findings, value mechanisms and material uncertainties to Step 08 for comparable options.

Step 08: Generate proportionate competing options

Purpose and decision served Prevent the sprint from becoming a build justification by defining materially different ways to address the accepted finding before detailed diligence.

Accountable owner Product Sponsor; the economic buyer confirms which option classes are legitimate for the decision.

Delegated lead and contributors Sprint lead facilitates. Product, service/workflow, commercial, technical, procurement, data, operating and affected-user representatives develop options.

Preconditions, inputs and access Accepted findings, value mechanism, current alternatives, constraints, commitments, material uncertainties and option-authority boundaries.

Actions

1. Define the current-state or stop route and its consequence, containment or accepted exposure.
2. Define a do-minimum process, policy, information, ownership or service change where it could meet the outcome.
3. Define buy/configure/integrate and build routes only at the level needed to expose differentiating conditions and later diligence needs.
4. Define a bounded test route where one material uncertainty can change the decision; do not choose the artefact before the question.
5. State each option’s affected people, intended outcome, mechanism, minimum conditions, dependencies, permissions, operating owner, reversibility and evidence gaps.
6. Retain rejected options and the evidence-based reason they cannot meet the objective or guardrail.

Evidence to retain Option definitions, current-state comparator, non-product route, supplier and existing-capability evidence, dependencies, assumptions, decision conditions and rejected alternatives.

Decision or scoring rule An option is eligible only if it can plausibly address the accepted finding within authority and has an evidence route. Do not sum ordinal ratings into an automatic winner.

Output and template The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions option, uncertainty and decision portfolio, beginning with Option and Alternative rows.

Acceptance gate Proceed when the option set contains genuine current-state/stop, non-product, buy or existing-capability, build and test routes where relevant; otherwise expand, narrow or stop.

Leadership checkpoint The Product Sponsor confirms that options are comparable against one outcome and that no protected route bypasses evidence.

Human control point Named technical, procurement, operating and affected-person authorities may reject an option that crosses a prohibited boundary; they do not select the business disposition alone.

Failure modes and safeguards Options can be labels for the same design, the buy route can inherit supplier claims and the non-product route can be tokenistic. Define mechanisms and evidence conditions, not feature bundles.

Change, stop or escalation condition Return to Step 07 when options solve different findings. Escalate a route that requires authority, risk acceptance or contractual access outside the charter.

Handoff to the next step Transfer eligible options and their decision conditions to Step 09 for bounded opportunity-level assessment.

Step 09: Assess options against the decision lenses

Purpose and decision served Determine which options are unsupported, require deeper evidence or may progress to a separately governed next decision without pretending detailed validation or diligence is complete.

Accountable owner Product Sponsor; lens owners accept the accuracy and limits of their respective evidence.

Delegated lead and contributors Sprint lead coordinates. Research/user, commercial/finance, workflow/service, technical, operating, procurement and risk authorities assess relevant conditions.

Preconditions, inputs and access Eligible options, accepted findings, reconciled evidence, value mechanism, user and workflow boundary, current commitments and applicable specialist constraints.

Actions

1. Create separate decision-level conditions for need/behaviour, value/commercial relevance, journey/workflow fit, option/technical plausibility, adoption/operability and risk/authority.
2. For every material condition, record evidence, proof status, limitation, owner and whether it passes, requires enabling work, requires validation, defers or stops the option.
3. Identify consequence, reversibility, dependency, operating burden, prohibited use and authority not yet obtained.
4. Test whether a simpler or existing route can satisfy the same outcome before a more complex route progresses.
5. Separate decision-level plausibility from The Product Problem and Market Validation Standard: Proving Need Before Solution validation, The Build, Buy, Configure, Integrate or Stop Decision: An Executive Technology Investment Playbook option diligence, The Solution Architecture and Non-Functional Requirements Standard: Designing for Supportable Value architecture and The Software Investment Business Case: Scope, Total Cost, Risk and Operating Economics business-case conclusions.
6. Preserve dissent and any condition that could reverse the emerging preference.

Evidence to retain One option-condition row per material lens, evidence references, dependencies, operating constraints, prohibited boundaries, preliminary risk records, dissent and open diligence questions.

Decision or scoring rule An option can progress only when no known material stop condition applies and each unresolved decision-critical condition has an authorised evidence route. Do not average away a failed mandatory condition.

Output and template The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions option, uncertainty and decision portfolio, using Decision condition, Dependency, Risk and Prohibited boundary rows.

Acceptance gate Proceed when each option has an evidence-linked progress, test, enable, defer or stop position at decision level; otherwise return, narrow or stop.

Leadership checkpoint The Product Sponsor reviews material gaps, simpler routes, accepted exposure and the boundary between opportunity evidence and deeper diligence.

Human control point Qualified authorities decide whether a material legal, privacy, security, accessibility, safety, employee, financial or sector condition blocks or constrains progression.

Failure modes and safeguards A weighted matrix can manufacture precision, feasibility can be declared from a workshop, and supplier evidence can remain unchallenged. Keep conditions disaggregated and proof-linked.

Change, stop or escalation condition Stop an option with a prohibited boundary, no owner, no plausible value mechanism or an unresolved consequence beyond appetite. Re-route deeper questions to the correct A5 standard.

Handoff to the next step Transfer the option conditions, material uncertainties and potential dispositions to Step 10 for the next evidence gate.

Step 10: Design the material evidence gate

Purpose and decision served Define the smallest authorised evidence action that could change a test disposition or establish the entry conditions for deeper diligence.

Accountable owner Product Sponsor; the owner of the uncertainty accepts the method and the economic buyer accepts the burden.

Delegated lead and contributors Research, product, service, technical, commercial or specialist lead designs the gate appropriate to the question. Measurement, information and affected authorities review it.

Preconditions, inputs and access Ranked material uncertainties, option conditions, evidence gaps, consequence and reversibility, affected people, approved access, resources and decision date.

Actions

1. Select only uncertainties that could reverse, materially narrow or stop the disposition.
2. Write the question, claim, target context or population, evidence method, source, owner, baseline, limitation and expected decision use before activity begins.
3. Define the pass, change, hold and stop conditions, plus harm, privacy, accessibility, security, commercial and service guardrails.
4. Select a method only to the degree the sprint is authorised: existing-evidence reconciliation, observation, research, supplier proof, commercial check or technical evidence action.
5. Route a complete research/market validation programme to The Product Problem and Market Validation Standard: Proving Need Before Solution and an artefact choice to The Evidence Artefact Decision: Prototype, Proof of Concept, Concierge Test or MVP; do not disguise either as a sprint task.
6. Set retention, independent review, invalidation, change-control and handoff requirements.

Evidence to retain Evidence-gate protocol, precommitted decision conditions, authority, method rationale, sample/context, source, measure, guardrail, invalidation and change log.

Decision or scoring rule Approve the evidence gate only if its result can change a named decision and the burden and exposure are proportionate. Activity that can only confirm the preferred idea is invalid.

Output and template The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions option, uncertainty and decision portfolio, using Uncertainty, Evidence plan, Gate and Handoff rows.

Acceptance gate Proceed to the executive decision when existing evidence is sufficient or a separately owned evidence gate is accepted; otherwise redesign, defer or stop.

Leadership checkpoint The economic buyer approves the evidence burden and confirms that “test” is a legitimate disposition rather than concealed delivery.

Human control point Named research, technical, information, risk and affected-person authorities approve the method and may contain or stop it.

Failure modes and safeguards Teams can choose an impressive artefact before the uncertainty, move thresholds after results or expose users to an unapproved service. Precommit the decision rule and stay within authority.

Change, stop or escalation condition Stop a gate that cannot change the decision, lacks representation or authority, exceeds burden, or creates material exposure. Escalate scope that becomes full validation or delivery.

Handoff to the next step Transfer the accepted evidence position and any separately governed test route to Step 11 for the bounded next-phase outcome.

Step 11: Define the first-use and next-phase boundary

Purpose and decision served Translate a defensible progress or test position into the smallest outcome and evidence boundary a later phase must govern, without producing a disguised feature contract.

Accountable owner Product Sponsor; a named operating owner accepts the future operating conditions and the next-phase owner accepts the handoff boundary.

Delegated lead and contributors Product lead facilitates. User/service, workflow, technical, accessibility, security, data, commercial, delivery and operating owners define decision-critical conditions only.

Preconditions, inputs and access Accepted findings, option conditions, evidence-gate result or plan, affected-person and workflow definitions, dependencies, risks, authority and candidate disposition.

Actions

1. State the core user or operating outcome and critical end-to-end workflow a later phase must support or test.
2. Define minimum capability and control conditions, integration/data boundary, affected population/context and operating owner.
3. Record explicit non-goals, excluded users or contexts requiring later evidence, unresolved assumptions and prohibited uses.
4. Separate the outcome boundary from prototype, proof-of-concept, concierge-test or MVP labels; route artefact selection to The Evidence Artefact Decision: Prototype, Proof of Concept, Concierge Test or MVP.
5. Name the next A5 standard, owner, evidence inputs, acceptance gate, authority not transferred and conditions for return or stop.
6. Define the later outcome, operating and guardrail measures without inventing targets or forecasts.

Evidence to retain First-use outcome, critical workflow, minimum condition, non-goal, open assumption, permission, dependency, operating owner, measure and next-gate records.

Decision or scoring rule The boundary is acceptable only when every included element supports the core outcome or a mandatory control, and every excluded material condition has a visible consequence and route.

Output and template The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions executive product decision register, beginning with Boundary, Measure and Next gate rows.

Acceptance gate Proceed when the next phase can accept a bounded outcome, evidence, non-goals, controls, ownership and stop route; otherwise narrow, validate, defer or stop.

Leadership checkpoint The Product Sponsor confirms that the boundary is an evidence and outcome contract, not a promised backlog or implementation schedule.

Human control point The next-phase and operating owners accept the handoff; specialist authorities retain approval of their later detailed requirements.

Failure modes and safeguards Feature lists can expand, “MVP” can imply build and non-goals can hide excluded users. Tie every condition to the outcome, decision or guardrail and record affected exclusions.

Change, stop or escalation condition Return to Step 08 when the boundary implies a different option. Escalate unowned operation, unresolved material harm or a dependency outside the investment authority.

Handoff to the next step Transfer the complete evidence, option and next-phase boundary to Step 12 for executive disposition and ownership transfer.

Step 12: Make the executive disposition and transfer ownership

Purpose and decision served Close the opportunity sprint through an authorised build, buy/configure/integrate, change, test, defer or stop decision with reasons, limits and accepted ownership.

Accountable owner Economic buyer or named opportunity decision forum; the Product Sponsor owns the integrity of the presented record.

Delegated lead and contributors Sprint lead presents. Evidence, product, user/service, commercial, workflow, technical, operating and risk owners answer within their authority.

Preconditions, inputs and access Approved charter, reconciled evidence and assumptions, findings, comparable options, material uncertainties, evidence gate, next-phase boundary, dissent and resource constraints.

Actions

1. Present the decision question, affected people, current condition, value mechanism, evidence status and limitations before the recommendation.
2. Compare eligible options and show rejected routes, contrary evidence, dependencies, accepted exposure and no-action consequence.
3. Record exactly one primary disposition per bounded opportunity: build-path diligence, buy/configure/integrate diligence, non-product change, bounded test, defer or stop.
4. State what the disposition authorises and explicitly what it does not authorise.
5. Assign the next owner, resources, standard, evidence gate, review date, guardrails, escalation and restart or closure condition.
6. Obtain recipient acceptance of definitions, evidence, limitations, permissions and non-delegable authority.

Evidence to retain Decision paper, source and finding references, option comparison, dissent, decision minutes, authority, accepted exposure, resource decision and signed handover inventory.

Decision or scoring rule No automatic total decides. The authorised human chooses the disposition against mandatory evidence, value, authority and risk conditions and records the rationale.

Output and template The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions executive product decision register, using Decision, Handover and Gate rows.

Acceptance gate Close or transfer only when the disposition, limits, next owner and gate are accepted; otherwise validate, defer, re-charter or stop remains the recorded outcome.

Leadership checkpoint The economic buyer signs the disposition and resource boundary; the Product Sponsor signs the handover; the recipient accepts the next decision, not an implied delivery promise.

Human control point Only the authorised decision forum may commit resources or accept exposure. A partner cannot approve its own follow-on scope or evidence.

Failure modes and safeguards “Build” can be misread as delivery approval, defer can become silent continuation, and dissent can disappear. State authority boundaries, closure/restart conditions and retained dissent explicitly.

Change, stop or escalation condition Do not transfer when the recipient rejects evidence, authority, scope or operating ownership. Escalate decisions exceeding budget, risk or governance authority.

Handoff to the next step Transfer the signed decision and handover record to Step 13 for review, change and closure control.

Step 13: Review evidence, change and closure

Purpose and decision served Keep the opportunity decision valid when evidence, users, workflow, suppliers, technology, economics, permissions or strategic conditions change.

Accountable owner Product Sponsor until accepted handover; thereafter the named next-phase or closure owner, with the economic buyer retaining investment authority.

Delegated lead and contributors Product operations, evidence/measurement, workflow/service, commercial, technical and risk owners maintain relevant records. Independent challenge is used for material change.

Preconditions, inputs and access Signed disposition, evidence and measure contracts, handover, next gate, change log, incident and exception routes, restart or closure conditions.

Actions

1. Review the evidence gate and decision at the approved date or material change event.
2. Reconcile actual evidence with the original claim, population, context, baseline, threshold, guardrails and attribution limits.
3. Record changes to affected people, need, workflow, option, supplier, architecture assumption, cost basis, permissions, operating owner or strategy.
4. Decide continue to the separately authorised gate, change, hold, defer, stop, close or re-charter; do not use The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions to approve launch or scale.
5. Contain material harm, prohibited use or control failure and route it to the named authority.
6. Archive stopped or closed opportunities with reasons, evidence, accepted exposure, artefact status and restart conditions.

Evidence to retain Measure results with population and period, review minutes, new evidence, changes, incidents, exceptions, decisions, containment, closure and restart record.

Decision or scoring rule Continue only while mandatory evidence and authority conditions remain true and no stop guardrail is breached. New material assumptions require revalidation.

Output and template The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions executive product decision register, using Review, Change, Stop and Closure rows.

Acceptance gate Continue or close only with a dated human disposition; otherwise change, hold, stop or re-charter.

Leadership checkpoint The economic buyer approves any renewed investment or material route change; silence does not convert defer into approval.

Human control point Named authorities contain harm and decide restart within their mandates; only the executive forum changes investment disposition.

Failure modes and safeguards Original evidence can go stale, tests can become pilots and stopped ideas can continue through side budgets. Use expiry, access and commitment registers plus named closure owners.

Change, stop or escalation condition Contain and escalate guardrail breach, unapproved continuation, owner loss, material evidence change or a follow-on phase acting beyond its gate.

Handoff to the next step Close the sprint with an archived decision, or transfer the current record to the separately authorised A5 standard and its named owner.

4. The Evidence & Measurement Checklist

Use the checklist before the executive disposition and again at the dated review. “Present” is not the test: every item requires the named evidence and owner.

Preflight and authority

• One dated build, buy, change, test, defer or stop decision is approved and genuinely open to contrary evidence. Evidence: opportunity charter and sponsor approval. Owner: economic buyer.
• The affected people, context, current condition and need-to-value transition are named without using the feature as the problem. Evidence: approved opportunity statement. Owner: Product Sponsor.
• The scope separates materially different users, workflows, value mechanisms and permission boundaries. Evidence: scope and split-decision record. Owner: sprint lead.
• Decision, evidence, risk, investment and operating authorities are assigned to named people. Evidence: responsibility and authority rows. Owner: Product Sponsor.
• Product-build, supplier, platform, referral and implementation interests are disclosed and controlled. Evidence: conflict and recusal register. Owner: governance or procurement owner.
• Stop, containment, re-charter and escalation routes are approved before access begins. Evidence: charter stop-control record. Owner: economic buyer.

Evidence access and quality

• Affected-person participation and representation use an authorised and ethically acceptable route. Evidence: participation and representation plan. Owner: user or service authority.
• One material evidence item is retained per row with source, version, period, population, method and owner. Evidence: evidence-register rows. Owner: evidence coordinator.
• Observed behaviour, stakeholder statement, interpretation, assumption and gap remain separately classified. Evidence: proof-status and evidence-class fields. Owner: research or evidence lead.
• Decision-critical definitions and baselines are reconciled or marked baseline required. Evidence: definition and baseline decisions. Owner: metric and finance owners.
• Contrary cases, excluded people, source conflicts and sampling or access limitations are visible. Evidence: limitation and contradiction rows. Owner: evidence coordinator.
• Supplier, prototype, roadmap and prior-test material is used only for the claim it can support. Evidence: source-use decision and limitation. Owner: Product Sponsor.

Method execution

• The current journey or workflow includes trigger, task, decision, handoff, exception, control and outcome where applicable. Evidence: accepted journey/workflow rows. Owner: journey or workflow owner.
• Current alternatives include existing products, manual or assisted service, workaround, delay, non-consumption and abandonment where relevant. Evidence: current-alternative inventory. Owner: product lead.
• Every finding links the condition, affected person, value-path consequence, evidence, explanation and credible alternative. Evidence: accepted finding rows. Owner: sprint lead.
• Need, urgency, willingness to change, commercial relevance, feasibility and operability are not treated as one claim. Evidence: disaggregated finding and condition records. Owner: Product Sponsor.
• Eligible options include current state or stop, non-product change, existing or bought capability, build and bounded test where relevant. Evidence: option portfolio. Owner: Product Sponsor.
• Each option has separate decision-level conditions across all material opportunity lenses. Evidence: option-condition rows. Owner: relevant lens owners.

Governance, privacy, security and risk

• Research, observation, data use and retention have approved purpose, access, consent or authority and disposal routes. Evidence: information and participation approval. Owner: information or research authority.
• Accessibility and inclusion conditions cover affected disabled people and assisted or offline routes where relevant. Evidence: accessibility need and qualified-review record. Owner: accessibility authority.
• Technical evidence is bounded to opportunity plausibility and does not imply architecture, security or production approval. Evidence: technical-boundary statement. Owner: CIO/CTO or delegated authority.
• Material harm, prohibited use, affected people, detection, containment and named human authority are recorded. Evidence: risk and prohibited-boundary rows. Owner: relevant risk authority.
• A supplier or delivery partner cannot self-approve the evidence, option or follow-on phase from which it benefits. Evidence: independence and approval record. Owner: economic buyer.
• Legal, privacy, security, accessibility, employee, financial and sector conclusions are routed to qualified organisational authorities. Evidence: specialist-review disposition. Owner: Product Sponsor.

Deliverables and acceptance

• The charter, authority, access, conflict, commitment and current-solution records are accepted and versioned. Evidence: opportunity charter register. Owner: Product Sponsor.
• The affected-person, current-behaviour, journey/workflow and evidence records expose limitations and contrary cases. Evidence: user/workflow evidence register. Owner: user or service authority.
• The finding set states the evidenced need, value mechanism, alternatives and validation gaps without claiming future outcomes. Evidence: finding acceptance record. Owner: economic buyer.
• The option portfolio exposes current-state, non-product, buy or existing-capability, build, test, defer and stop routes where applicable. Evidence: option and uncertainty portfolio. Owner: Product Sponsor.
• The next-phase boundary states the core outcome, minimum conditions, non-goals, permissions, owner and evidence gate. Evidence: boundary and gate rows. Owner: next-phase owner.
• Every disposition names what it authorises, what it excludes and the correct The Product Problem and Market Validation Standard: Proving Need Before Solution–The Product Adoption, Operability and Scale Gate: Proving Value after Launch handoff. Evidence: executive decision and handover record. Owner: economic buyer.

Measurement

• Learning, delivery, operating, commercial-outcome and guardrail measures are kept separate. Evidence: separate measurement-contract rows. Owner: measurement owner.
• Each measure states unit, numerator, denominator, population, period, exclusions, source and lag where applicable. Evidence: versioned metric definition. Owner: metric owner.
• Baselines are compatible and accepted or explicitly state baseline required. Evidence: baseline decision and limitation. Owner: finance and metric owners.
• User evidence states whether a result describes only the observed sample or supports a wider population inference. Evidence: research-analysis boundary. Owner: research owner.
• Thresholds are pre-approved for continue, change, hold, stop or next-gate decisions and do not move after results. Evidence: dated gate and version history. Owner: decision owner.
• Commercial claims include lifecycle operating burden, uncertainty and attribution limits before decision use. Evidence: finance-reviewed measure contract. Owner: economic buyer.

Decision and handover

• Each bounded opportunity receives one primary build-path, buy-path, change, test, defer or stop disposition. Evidence: executive decision row. Owner: economic buyer.
• Rejected alternatives, dissent, unverified links, accepted exposure and no-action consequence remain visible. Evidence: decision rationale and dissent record. Owner: Product Sponsor.
• Build or buy disposition is explicitly separated from procurement, development, delivery, launch and scale authority. Evidence: authority-exclusion statement. Owner: economic buyer.
• Every approved next action has one owner, resource boundary, relevant A5 standard and dated evidence gate. Evidence: handover and gate rows. Owner: next-phase owner.
• Definitions, evidence, limitations, permissions, non-goals, dependencies and open issues transfer with recipient acceptance. Evidence: signed handover inventory. Owner: Product Sponsor.
• Internal execution, a focused specialist or an independent cross-functional sprint is selected proportionately. Evidence: delegation and sourcing decision. Owner: Product Sponsor.

Review, change and stop controls

• The disposition has a dated review or closure event and an expiry or material-change trigger. Evidence: review row and calendar reference. Owner: Product Sponsor.
• New evidence is reconciled against the original claim, population, context, baseline and threshold. Evidence: review workpaper. Owner: evidence owner.
• User, workflow, supplier, technology, permission, cost, strategy or operating-owner changes trigger impact review. Evidence: change-assessment row. Owner: next-phase owner.
• Material harm, prohibited use or control failure triggers containment and named human decision. Evidence: incident and stop record. Owner: relevant risk authority.
• Deferred and stopped opportunities retain reasons, artefact status, accepted exposure and restart conditions. Evidence: closure and restart record. Owner: closure owner.
• A later launch or scale decision requires the separately approved delivery and post-launch evidence gates. Evidence: The Product Delivery Governance Standard: From Discovery through Production Acceptance or The Product Adoption, Operability and Scale Gate: Proving Value after Launch approval reference. Owner: investment forum.

Topic-specific measurement contract

Do not create one opportunity score or treat a metric contract as a forecast. Select only the measures needed for the chartered decision. Record the affected population, context, value mechanism, baseline status, later operating burden and attribution limits.

Measure A: Decision-grade opportunity evidence coverage

Measure B: Bounded evidence-gate completion

Measure C: Observed need or behaviour evidence by context

Measure D: First-outcome completion within the bounded evidence setting

Measure E: Named need-to-outcome transition

Measure F: Net lifecycle operating burden

Measure G: Material opportunity or product guardrail breaches

Evidence classifications used in this guide

For engagement evidence, separately retain observed fact, corroborated interpretation, single-source statement, assumption, evidence gap and constraint. A VERIFIED record that a participant expressed an opinion does not verify the opinion’s explanation, prevalence or future behaviour.

Sources and proof boundaries

• Abrasim opportunity-decision lenses, execution sequence and handoff model: PROPOSED Abrasim working methodology. It structures an executive decision; it is not proof of demand, product-market fit, feasibility, compliance, adoption or economic return.
• GOV.UK Service Manual: How the discovery phase works: VERIFIED official guidance at the 25 August 2026 source cut-off. It supports understanding users, the problem, constraints and options before building. Its UK public-service phases and any duration guidance are context-specific and are not adopted as an Abrasim timetable or universal corporate standard.
• GOV.UK Service Manual: User research in discovery: VERIFIED official guidance at the source cut-off. It supports learning about users, context and service scope; organisation-specific research ethics, representation and inference still require qualified design and approval.
• GOV.UK: Technology Code of Practice: VERIFIED UK cross-government technology criteria at the source cut-off. User need, accessibility, security, privacy, reuse, integration, purchasing and sustainability are relevant decision questions, but the code’s formal application and assurance routes are UK-government specific.
• GOV.UK Service Manual: Commercial off-the-shelf products and services: VERIFIED official guidance published in 2025. It supports considering the whole service, user needs, accessibility and lifecycle rather than treating purchase as a shortcut. It does not establish that buying, building or a particular supplier is right for this organisation.
• HM Treasury: The Green Book 2026: VERIFIED current UK government appraisal guidance at the source cut-off. Its broad-options, business-as-usual, evidence, risk and transparent-decision disciplines inform this sprint; its public-sector economic method is not imported as a private-sector business case and The Software Investment Business Case: Scope, Total Cost, Risk and Operating Economics owns full investment-case work.
• NIST SP 800-218: Secure Software Development Framework 1.1: VERIFIED official NIST publication. It describes high-level secure software-development practices that can be integrated into a lifecycle. Referencing it flags later secure-development evidence; it does not certify feasibility, security, architecture or compliance for a candidate.
• W3C: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2: VERIFIED W3C Recommendation at the source cut-off. It provides testable web accessibility criteria. The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions records affected needs and qualified-review routes; it does not claim conformance or replace product-specific accessibility evaluation.

The Leadership Audit Working Pack remains the shared governance layer. The Product Opportunity Sprint: An Executive Standard for Build, Buy, Test or Stop Decisions adds opportunity, affected-person, current-behaviour, journey/workflow, assumption, value-mechanism, option, evidence-gate, first-use boundary and product-decision records. Keep stable opportunity, evidence, finding, option, uncertainty, decision, measure and gate IDs; keep one material evidence item per evidence row; and separate measures, decisions, gates and reviews.