BVDLC Phase Checklists

## PHASE 0: ENTRY CRITERIA Before starting Phase 0, ensure: ☐ Business problem identified (even if not fully defined) ☐ Executive sponsor willing to engage ☐ Potential users/customers can be interviewed ☐ Basic business metrics available or measurable ☐ Timeline expectation is reasonable (not "we need this tomorrow") Status: ✅ READY / ⚠️ GAPS / ❌ NOT READY

## PHASE 0: ACTIVITIES CHECKLIST **Business Problem Definition:** ☐ Interviewed executive sponsor (document current pain) ☐ Interviewed 3-5 affected users/customers ☐ Quantified business impact ($, time, customer effect) ☐ Identified root cause (not just symptoms) ☐ Documented why solving this matters NOW **Success Metrics Definition:** ☐ Identified 1-3 primary KPIs to move ☐ Captured current baseline for each KPI ☐ Defined specific target for each KPI ☐ Set realistic timeframe for achievement ☐ Confirmed metrics are actually measurable **Value Hypothesis:** ☐ Created testable value hypothesis statement ☐ Defined how Phase 1 prototype will validate it ☐ Identified assumptions that must be true ☐ Documented what success looks like **Investment Thesis:** ☐ Estimated total investment (dev + infra + change mgmt) ☐ Calculated expected annual benefit ☐ Computed payback period ☐ Assessed risk-adjusted ROI ☐ Confirmed investment is justifiable **Stakeholder Alignment:** ☐ Executive sponsor signed off on business case ☐ Key stakeholders identified and aligned ☐ User representatives committed to Phase 1 testing ☐ Decision makers agree on success criteria **Constraints & Scope:** ☐ Technical constraints documented ☐ Business constraints documented (budget, timeline) ☐ Security/compliance requirements identified ☐ In-scope items clearly defined ☐ Out-of-scope items explicitly listed ☐ Phase 1 prototype scope defined **Risk Assessment:** ☐ Key risks identified with probability/impact ☐ Mitigation strategies defined ☐ Go/no-go criteria established ☐ Escalation path defined

## PHASE 0: EXIT CRITERIA Phase 0 is complete when: ☐ Business problem articulated in 2-3 clear sentences ☐ Success metrics defined with baseline values captured ☐ Executive sponsor has approved business case ☐ Investment thesis shows positive ROI ☐ Value hypothesis is testable in Phase 1 ☐ All stakeholders aligned on objectives ☐ Team can explain WHY (not just WHAT) they're building ☐ Context documented in AI-consumable format ☐ Go/no-go criteria for Phase 1 defined **Quality Gate:** Can every team member explain the business value in one sentence? **Decision:** ☐ Proceed to Phase 1 ☐ Refine Phase 0 ☐ Kill initiative

## PHASE 1: IDEATION & RAPID PROTOTYPING **Duration:** 1 week **Purpose:** Build working prototypes to validate value hypothesis before heavy investment ### ENTRY CRITERIA ☐ Phase 0 complete and approved ☐ Value hypothesis clearly defined ☐ 5-10 representative users identified for testing ☐ Team has AI tools access (if using AI) ☐ Prototype scope defined (what to build) ☐ Testing schedule arranged with users ☐ Phase 0 context available to team ### ACTIVITIES CHECKLIST **Prototype Planning:** ☐ Identified 2-3 different approaches to test ☐ Defined what each prototype must prove ☐ Selected technology for rapid prototyping ☐ Scheduled user testing sessions ☐ Prepared testing script/questions **Prototype Building:** ☐ Built Prototype V1 (primary approach) ☐ Built Prototype V2 (alternative approach) ☐ Built Prototype V3 (if needed) ☐ Each prototype demonstrates core value proposition ☐ Prototypes use realistic data (not dummy data) ☐ Prototypes are testable by real users **User Testing:** ☐ Tested with 5-10 representative users ☐ Observed users interacting with prototypes ☐ Captured feedback systematically ☐ Recorded key quotes and reactions ☐ Identified what worked vs. what didn't ☐ Validated or invalidated key assumptions **Technical Feasibility:** ☐ Confirmed technical approach is viable ☐ Identified technical constraints/challenges ☐ Assessed integration complexity ☐ Estimated development effort for production version **Analysis & Decision:** ☐ Analyzed user feedback ☐ Compared results to Phase 0 value hypothesis ☐ Documented lessons learned ☐ Made go/no-go recommendation with data ☐ Identified winning approach (if validated) ### EXIT CRITERIA ☐ At least 1 working prototype built and tested ☐ 5-10 users have provided feedback ☐ Value hypothesis validated or invalidated with evidence ☐ Technical feasibility confirmed ☐ Winning approach identified (if proceeding) ☐ Go/no-go decision made with clear rationale ☐ Lessons learned documented ☐ If GO: ready to design production architecture ☐ If NO-GO: understand why and what to do instead **Quality Gate:** Do users confirm this solves their problem? **Decision:** ☐ Proceed to Phase 2 ☐ Pivot approach ☐ Kill initiative

## PHASE 2: ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN **Duration:** 3-5 days **Purpose:** Design production-ready architecture based on validated prototype ### ENTRY CRITERIA ☐ Phase 1 validated value hypothesis ☐ Winning prototype approach identified ☐ User needs confirmed through testing ☐ Technical feasibility proven ☐ Phase 0 + Phase 1 context available ☐ Architecture team/tech leads engaged ### ACTIVITIES CHECKLIST **Architecture Design:** ☐ Created high-level system architecture diagram ☐ Defined components and their responsibilities ☐ Designed data model/schemas ☐ Mapped integration points with existing systems ☐ Selected technology stack with rationale ☐ Designed API contracts/specifications **Security & Compliance:** ☐ Identified security requirements ☐ Designed authentication/authorization approach ☐ Addressed data protection (encryption, PII handling) ☐ Confirmed compliance requirements (HIPAA, SOX, etc.) ☐ Documented security patterns to follow **Non-Functional Requirements (NFRs):** ☐ Defined availability targets (e.g., 99.9% uptime) ☐ Set performance targets (response time, throughput) ☐ Specified scalability requirements ☐ Designed monitoring and observability approach ☐ Planned disaster recovery strategy **Integration Planning:** ☐ Mapped all external system connections ☐ Designed API contracts ☐ Planned data flows and transformations ☐ Designed error handling and retry logic ☐ Identified fallback mechanisms **Architecture Decision Records (ADRs):** ☐ Documented significant architecture decisions ☐ Explained rationale for each decision ☐ Linked decisions to Phase 0 business objectives ☐ Documented trade-offs accepted ☐ Defined success criteria for decisions **Deployment Architecture:** ☐ Designed infrastructure requirements ☐ Planned environment strategy (dev/staging/prod) ☐ Estimated costs ☐ Documented operational considerations ### EXIT CRITERIA ☐ Production architecture designed and documented ☐ All components and integrations mapped ☐ Technology stack finalized with rationale ☐ Security and compliance requirements addressed ☐ NFRs documented with specific targets ☐ Architecture reviewed by tech leads/architects ☐ ADRs created for significant decisions ☐ AI assistants have comprehensive specs to follow ☐ Team confident architecture serves Phase 0 objectives ☐ Technical debt prevented proactively **Quality Gate:** Can AI generate aligned code from these specs? **Decision:** ☐ Proceed to Phase 3 ☐ Refine architecture ☐ Go back to Phase 1

## PHASE 3: PLANNING & WORK BREAKDOWN **Duration:** 3-5 days **Purpose:** Transform architecture into value-optimized execution plan ### ENTRY CRITERIA ☐ Phase 2 architecture approved ☐ All integration points documented ☐ Technology stack finalized ☐ NFRs clearly defined ☐ Phase 0-2 context available to team ☐ Development team ready to start ### ACTIVITIES CHECKLIST **Component Prioritization:** ☐ Identified components that deliver independent value ☐ Determined which components prove Phase 0 hypothesis fastest ☐ Mapped dependencies between components ☐ Identified parallel vs. sequential work ☐ Prioritized for fastest value delivery **Task Breakdown:** ☐ Decomposed each component into atomic tasks ☐ Defined acceptance criteria for each task (functional + business value) ☐ Specified input requirements for each task ☐ Specified output specifications for each task ☐ Estimated effort for each task ☐ Mapped task dependencies **AI vs. Human Classification:** ☐ Identified tasks suitable for AI generation ☐ Identified tasks requiring human expertise ☐ Created AI prompts for suitable tasks ☐ Documented validation requirements for AI output **Implementation Roadmap:** ☐ Created value-optimized build sequence ☐ Defined parallel work streams ☐ Identified critical path ☐ Set milestone dates ☐ Allocated resources to tasks **Risk Assessment:** ☐ Identified high-risk tasks ☐ Created mitigation strategies ☐ Defined contingency plans ☐ Planned for technical spikes if needed **Quality Planning:** ☐ Defined testing approach (unit, integration, E2E) ☐ Planned code review process ☐ Set up CI/CD pipeline (if not already exists) ☐ Defined quality gates ### EXIT CRITERIA ☐ All tasks defined with clear acceptance criteria ☐ Dependencies mapped and understood ☐ Implementation roadmap created ☐ AI prompts prepared for suitable tasks ☐ Team understands what to build and in what order ☐ Resource allocation complete ☐ Quality gates defined ☐ Risk mitigation strategies in place ☐ Ready for AI-accelerated implementation **Quality Gate:** Can team start implementing immediately with clear direction? **Decision:** ☐ Proceed to Phase 4 ☐ Refine planning ☐ Revisit architecture

## PHASE 4: BUILD, TEST & DEPLOY **Duration:** 2-3 weeks **Purpose:** AI-accelerated implementation with continuous quality ### ENTRY CRITERIA ☐ Phase 3 planning complete ☐ All tasks defined with acceptance criteria ☐ Development environment set up ☐ AI prompts prepared ☐ CI/CD pipeline ready ☐ Phase 0-3 context available to developers ☐ Code repository initialized ### ACTIVITIES CHECKLIST **Implementation:** ☐ Following task priority from Phase 3 ☐ Using AI for suitable tasks (with prompts from Phase 3) ☐ Humans validating AI-generated code ☐ Writing tests alongside code (TDD approach) ☐ Including traceability comments (Phase 0/2/3 references) ☐ Committing frequently with descriptive messages ☐ Updating context folder with dev notes/decisions **Testing (5 Dimensions):** Functional Testing: ☐ Unit tests written and passing (>80% coverage) ☐ Integration tests for component boundaries ☐ End-to-end tests for critical user paths ☐ Edge cases covered ☐ Error conditions tested Performance Testing: ☐ Load testing against Phase 2 NFR targets ☐ Stress testing to find breaking points ☐ Resource utilization measured ☐ Latency targets confirmed ☐ Optimization done if needed Security Testing: ☐ Security scan completed and clean ☐ OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities checked ☐ Authentication/authorization tested ☐ Input validation verified ☐ Data protection confirmed Integration Testing: ☐ All external integrations tested ☐ API contracts validated ☐ Data flows verified ☐ Error handling and retries tested ☐ Fallback mechanisms working Business Value Testing: ☐ KPI tracking instrumentation validated ☐ Business logic accuracy confirmed ☐ Phase 0 acceptance criteria met ☐ Ready to measure business impact **Deployment:** ☐ Deployed to staging environment ☐ Staging smoke tests passed ☐ Deployed to production (progressive rollout) ☐ 1% traffic → monitored → stable ☐ 10% traffic → monitored → stable ☐ 50% traffic → monitored → stable ☐ 100% traffic → monitored → stable ☐ All health checks passing ☐ No error rate spike ☐ Business metrics instrumentation active ### EXIT CRITERIA ☐ All code implemented and committed ☐ All tests passing (unit, integration, E2E, security) ☐ Code reviews approved ☐ Deployed to production successfully ☐ Smoke tests passing in production ☐ Monitoring active and capturing metrics ☐ No critical issues in first 24 hours ☐ Business KPI tracking operational ☐ Operations team trained (basic handoff) ☐ Runbook drafted (will be refined in Phase 5) **Quality Gate:** Is system stable in production with metrics tracking? **Decision:** ☐ Proceed to Phase 5 ☐ Fix critical issues ☐ Rollback and debug

## PHASE 5: MONITORING & VALUE TRACKING **Duration:** Ongoing (continuous) **Purpose:** Measure outcomes, ensure sustained value, feed learnings back ### ENTRY CRITERIA ☐ System deployed to production ☐ Monitoring instrumentation active ☐ Business KPIs being tracked ☐ Operations team aware of deployment ☐ Phase 0 success metrics defined ☐ Baseline metrics captured (pre-deployment) ### ACTIVITIES CHECKLIST **Initial Validation (Days 1-7):** ☐ Monitor technical health hourly ☐ Track business metrics daily ☐ Gather user feedback actively ☐ Document any issues immediately ☐ Week 1 value report completed **Operations Handover (Week 1-2):** ☐ Operations team trained on system ☐ Runbook finalized and reviewed ☐ Escalation procedures confirmed ☐ Monitoring dashboards access granted ☐ Knowledge transfer completed **Value Realization Tracking (Ongoing):** ☐ Weekly value reports generated ☐ Business KPIs tracked vs. Phase 0 targets ☐ User adoption measured ☐ Cost vs. budget monitored ☐ ROI calculated and updated **Continuous Monitoring (Ongoing):** ☐ Business metrics dashboard active ☐ Technical health dashboard active ☐ Cost dashboard active ☐ Alerts configured and working ☐ Monthly review meetings scheduled **Feedback Loop Management:** ☐ Monitoring for triggers back to Phase 0 (reassess if KPIs degrade) ☐ Monitoring for triggers to Phase 1 (new feature opportunities) ☐ Monitoring for triggers to Phase 3 (optimization needs) ☐ Monitoring for triggers to Phase 4 (hotfix requirements) ### EXIT CRITERIA (Initial Validation - typically 30 days) ☐ System stable in production (>99% uptime target) ☐ Business KPIs measured against Phase 0 targets ☐ Value realization report shows positive trend ☐ Operations team fully onboarded ☐ Continuous monitoring operational ☐ Lessons learned documented ☐ Improvement backlog created ☐ Decision on next steps made **Quality Gate:** Are we delivering and sustaining Phase 0 business value? **Continuous Phase:** ☐ System delivering value, continue monitoring ☐ Trigger optimization (Phase 3) ☐ Trigger new features (Phase 1) ☐ Reassess objectives (Phase 0)