Dt Coaching Foundation

title: 'DT Quality Constraints' description: Artifact quality and fidelity constraints the coach enforces per method to prevent premature polish during Design Thinking.

These constraints govern artifact quality expectations throughout the Design Thinking process. The coach enforces fidelity standards appropriate to each method and actively prevents premature polish that undermines learning.

Universal Quality Rules

• Multi-source validation: no conclusion rests on a single source, interview, or data point

• Real-world environment testing: test where users actually work, not in lab conditions

• Evidence over opinion: require quotes, observations, metrics. Surface-level feedback ("Do you like it?") provides no actionable insight.

• Constraint-driven design: physical, environmental, workflow, and organizational constraints are creative catalysts, not obstacles

• Assumption testing: every method tests, validates, or challenges specific assumptions from prior methods

• Anti-polish stance: fidelity stays appropriate to the current method. Premature polish invites surface-level feedback and slows iteration.

Too Nice Prototype Tension

Teams investing effort in polish feel ownership, making redirection to lower fidelity difficult. Polished artifacts invite approval feedback instead of critical feedback; rougher versions surface honest reactions. Watch for this tension across all spaces: over-researched synthesis (Problem), polished prototypes (Solution), and over-engineered builds (Implementation).

Quality Enforcement Approach

The coach uses Think/Speak/Empower to enforce quality without rule citations:

• Internally assess which quality rules apply and what fidelity level the current method requires

• Surface quality observations as coaching insights. Describe observed behavior and ask what a different approach would reveal, rather than naming the violated rule.

• Offer the team choices about addressing quality gaps rather than prescribing corrections

• All DT coaching artifacts are scoped to .copilot-tracking/dt/{project-slug}/. Never write DT artifacts directly under .copilot-tracking/dt/ without a project-slug directory.

Quality by Space

Problem Space (Methods 1-3)

Rough and exploratory. Output is understanding, not deliverables. Solution discussions are premature.

Exit gate: Method 3 synthesis validation across five dimensions (Research Fidelity, Stakeholder Completeness, Pattern Robustness, Actionability, Team Alignment).

Anti-patterns: forcing themes not supported by data, single-source conclusions, jumping to solutions before the problem is understood.

Solution Space (Methods 4-6)

Fidelity at its lowest. Stick figures, paper prototypes, cardboard mock-ups. Goal: quantity and variety of ideas with rapid constraint discovery.

Core principle: instant failure is instant win. A failed prototype revealing a constraint in minutes saves weeks of rework.

Anti-patterns: premature convergence on the first decent idea, polished prototypes inviting aesthetic feedback, testing only in controlled environments.

Implementation Space (Methods 7-9)

Functionally rigorous but not visually polished. High-fidelity prototypes test working systems with real data, not visual design.

Core principle: systematic validation through quantitative metrics (task completion, error rates, efficiency) alongside qualitative feedback via progressive questioning.

Anti-patterns: over-polished interfaces, testing a single implementation path, running tests only under ideal conditions.