Discovery Brief
Document early investigation before the project is formally approved.
Purpose
This project document helps convert ambiguity into decisions: scope, owner, assumptions, dependencies, evidence, acceptance, and follow-up.
Project use
Use this page before project momentum makes assumptions hard to correct. It should make the work easier to approve, pause, adjust, or close.
| Decision supported | What does this document help decide? |
|---|---|
| Owner | Who is accountable for updating it? |
| Boundary | What is included, excluded, deferred, or assumed? |
| Evidence | What confirms completion, acceptance, or handoff? |
When to use
- When the work repeats often enough that memory is no longer reliable.
- When more than one person may request, perform, review, or inherit the work.
- When risk, approval, evidence, or handoff needs to be visible later.
Common failure modes
- Ownership is implied rather than named.
- Inputs are accepted before they are complete.
- The output is not easy to verify later.
Review guidance
Review this page after a material incident, after a role or system change, and on a normal cadence appropriate to its risk. During review, check whether the owner is still correct, whether inputs are still complete, whether the output is still useful, and whether related pages need updates.