Roadmap PoC
Produces structured proof-of-concept plans that validate high-risk assumptions
through time-boxed experiments with clear success criteria, sprint breakdowns,
and go/no-go decision frameworks.
Guiding Principle
"A proof of concept that cannot fail is not a proof of concept. Define what failure looks like before you start."
Procedure
Step 1 — Hypothesis Definition
- Identify the top 3-5 assumptions that carry the highest risk and impact.
- Formulate each assumption as a testable hypothesis with measurable criteria.
- Define success thresholds and failure conditions for each hypothesis.
- Prioritize hypotheses by risk and dependency order.
Step 2 — Sprint Architecture
- Design 1-2 week sprints, each focused on validating specific hypotheses.
- Define prerequisites for each sprint (environment, data, access, team).
- Establish sprint deliverables: working code, measurements, decision record.
- Build in buffer sprints for unexpected findings.
Step 3 — Resource and Risk Planning
- Define team composition: roles, skills, availability windows.
- Estimate effort in FTE-weeks per sprint with confidence ranges.
- Identify technical risks and create mitigation/contingency pairs.
- Establish escalation triggers and decision authority.
Step 4 — Gates and Decision Framework
- Place go/no-go gates after each sprint with explicit decision criteria.
- Define what "proceed," "pivot," and "stop" look like at each gate.
- Document the investment committed vs remaining at each gate.
- Produce the final PoC summary with recommendations for full implementation.
Quality Criteria
- Every hypothesis has measurable success/failure criteria defined before execution.
- Sprint breakdowns include prerequisites, deliverables, and time-boxes.
- Risk register includes both technical risks and PoC-specific execution risks.
- Gates have explicit decision criteria that do not require subjective interpretation.
Anti-Patterns
- Running a PoC without defining what failure looks like.
- Allowing scope creep to turn a PoC into a prototype or MVP.
- Staffing a PoC with junior engineers when the goal is to validate architecture.
- Skipping gates because initial results are promising.