{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/trace-every-costly-requirement-back-to-the-need-it-protects",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0787",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Trace every costly requirement back to the need it protects",
  "summary": "Traceability is a reason chain, not a spreadsheet decoration.",
  "kind": "question",
  "body": "Ask which higher-level need, user outcome, constraint or risk requires the statement and what would happen if it were removed or relaxed. Record that parent. Requirements without a defensible parent become candidates for deletion, downgrade to preference or further discovery.",
  "limits": [
    "Not every low-level engineering constraint maps neatly to a user story; architecture, safety and legal parents are legitimate."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "union-requirements-and-acceptance-clarity"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-A059268EF3F10749"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "NASA's requirements checklist emphasizes clarity, one thought per requirement, completeness, explicit assumptions, consistency, traceability, feasibility and verifiability.",
      "source_id": "RS-A059268EF3F10749",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "The checklist is for systems engineering; smaller tasks can apply the principles proportionally.",
      "locator": "Requirements validation checklist"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "A requirement adds complexity, performance cost or schedule risk and its necessity is defended mainly by history."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "Not every low-level engineering constraint maps neatly to a user story; architecture, safety and legal parents are legitimate."
  ],
  "example": "A strict retention rule is traced to a regulatory obligation; a separate seven-year internal copy turns out to be historical preference and is reconsidered.",
  "check": "The requirement has a named parent need or an explicit decision to treat it as a preference rather than a must.",
  "question": "Which need or constraint requires this? · What is the worst credible consequence if we remove it? · Could a weaker requirement still protect the need?",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-A059268EF3F10749",
      "title": "Appendix C: How to Write a Good Requirement",
      "url": "https://www.nasa.gov/reference/appendix-c-how-to-write-a-good-requirement/"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-272C54FF0D8FF2BA",
      "title": "Turn ambiguous work into requirements that can be checked",
      "url": "/collections/turn-ambiguous-work-into-requirements-that-can-be-checked"
    }
  ]
}