{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/specify-the-needed-outcome-before-prescribing-the-solution",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-1012",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Specify the needed outcome before prescribing the solution",
  "summary": "Add another dashboard may be a solution to a question nobody has asked yet.",
  "kind": "protocol",
  "body": "Restate the required outcome and how it can be checked. Separate that requirement from a proposed implementation. Preserve genuine constraints, but label them as constraints with a reason. This leaves room to find a simpler solution without weakening what the system must achieve.",
  "limits": [
    "Do not remove security, compatibility or other binding constraints in the name of creativity. A solution-neutral sentence can still be vague or untestable."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "work-05-transferable-expertise"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-FDB1B2095CC12243"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "NASA's requirement-writing guidance recommends stating what is needed rather than prematurely specifying how, with precise verification criteria.",
      "source_id": "RS-FDB1B2095CC12243",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "Necessary implementation constraints must still be retained and justified rather than removed merely to make the statement solution-neutral.",
      "locator": "C.2 Product Requirement; C.4 Verifiability/Testability"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "A feature request names a particular tool or interface before the underlying need is clear."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "Do not remove security, compatibility or other binding constraints in the name of creativity. A solution-neutral sentence can still be vague or untestable."
  ],
  "example": "Instead of requesting a new dashboard, specify that the operator must identify every rejected record and its actionable reason after a run.",
  "check": "Two different designs could be compared against the same stated outcome, unless a justified constraint excludes one.",
  "steps": [
    "Ask what the proposed feature must enable someone to do.",
    "Write an observable result and relevant operating conditions.",
    "Record mandatory implementation constraints separately from preferences."
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-FDB1B2095CC12243",
      "title": "Appendix C: How to Write a Good Requirement",
      "url": "https://www.nasa.gov/reference/appendix-c-how-to-write-a-good-requirement/"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "from": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-1012",
      "to": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-1010",
      "type": "useful_with",
      "url": "/knowledge/check-that-it-meets-the-specification-and-solves-the-real-problem"
    }
  ],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-D7E536E5F014E0EC",
      "title": "Turn experience into expertise someone else can use",
      "url": "/collections/turn-experience-into-expertise-someone-else-can-use"
    }
  ]
}