Elaboration
Define what will be done and why. Elaboration transforms a broad intent into a structured plan. This phase produces the shared understanding that all subsequent work depends on.
Key Artifacts
- Intent document with scope and business context
- Unit specifications with boundaries and dependencies
- Success criteria for each unit and overall intent
- Domain model capturing vocabulary and relationships
- Mode recommendations per unit
Activities
Define Intent
Articulate the goal, scope, and desired outcome. An intent is the top-level statement of purpose — the thing being accomplished.
Decompose into Units
Break the intent into discrete, addressable pieces of work. Each unit is cohesive, loosely coupled, and independently completable. Units can declare dependencies, forming a DAG that enables parallel execution.
Set Success Criteria
Establish measurable conditions that define completion. Good criteria are specific, measurable, verifiable, and implementation-independent.
Build Domain Model
Capture the vocabulary, constraints, and relationships of the problem space. This shared model ensures humans and AI use the same language.
Human-AI Collaboration in Elaboration
Elaboration is the most collaborative phase. Stakeholders and AI work together to refine the intent into actionable structure:
- AI asks clarifying questions to minimize ambiguity
- AI proposes decomposition into units based on cohesion analysis
- The team validates the decomposition, providing corrections
- AI generates success criteria for each unit
- The team validates criteria, ensuring they are verifiable
- AI recommends execution structure — mode selection and workflow
Across Domains
| Domain | Intent Example | Success Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| Software | Add user authentication | Tests pass, security scan clean |
| Marketing | Launch Q2 brand campaign | Brand review approved, placements confirmed |
| Research | Validate hypothesis X | Methodology reviewed, significance achieved |
| Operations | Migrate to new vendor | Data verified, staff certified, SLA met |
| Strategy | Enter APAC market | Analysis complete, partnerships signed |