Phase 1: Planning Labs

Phase 1: The Planning Labs (Weeks 1-6) 🗺️

The first six weeks are dedicated to thinking before building. Output here becomes the scaffolding for disciplined iteration later. Resist the urge to prematurely code—quality planning accelerates development.

Progression at a Glance

Lab	Theme	Primary Question Answered
Planning A	Team & Operational Foundations	How will we work together effectively?
Planning B	Problem & Solution Framing	What are we solving and why this approach?
Planning C	Roadmap & Quality Strategy	What will we deliver and how ensure quality?
Scaffolding	Technical Bootstrap	Can we build, test, and integrate reliably?

Planning A: Foundation

Focus: Align humans + workflow + shared quality bars.

Key Artifacts: - Working Agreement (v1) - Definition of Ready / Definition of Done - Issue & PR templates - Seeded backlog (labeled, prioritized loosely)

Why it matters: Chaos avoided early is exponential time saved later.

Planning B: Discovery & Strategy

Focus: Replace assumptions with documented understanding.

Artifacts: - Stakeholder Map (who matters & their needs) - Prioritized backlog (now value & dependency aware) - Initial ADR(s) (e.g., stack, hosting approach) - Risk Register (with mitigation strategies)

Quality Tip: An ADR doesn’t need to be long—clarity beats verbosity.

Planning C: Roadmap & Testing

Focus: Constrain ambition into a realistic sequence and embed quality.

Artifacts: - MVP Statement (succinct value boundary) - 5‑Iteration Roadmap (high-level, outcome phrased) - Test Strategy (levels, tools, automation plan) - Acceptance Criteria patterns (Given‑When‑Then examples adopted)

Scaffolding (Bridge Week)

Focus: Make the environment real: continuous integration, running app skeleton, smoke test.

Artifacts: - Repo structure in place - CI pipeline green (lint / tests / build) - First ADR refined if assumptions changed - README includes run + test instructions

Common Failure Modes & Remedies

Smell	Cause	Mitigation
Vague backlog issues	Skipped DoR	Enforce template checks
Risk Register empty	Overconfidence	Brainstorm “What could derail us?”
Roadmap too granular	Mistaken for sprint plan	Rephrase as outcomes, not tasks
ADR churn	Premature decisions	Time-box research spikes first

Hand-off to Iteration 1

Before declaring Phase 1 complete confirm: - [ ] You could on-board an external contributor with existing docs - [ ] Top of backlog aligns with Iteration 1 goals candidate list - [ ] Test command runs something (even placeholder) in CI - [ ] Team confident in role rotation plan (see Teamwork page)

If any box is unchecked, address before starting feature work—momentum built on weak footing erodes quickly.