validation-plan

name	validation-plan
description	Use when a recommendation, hypothesis, action plan, or business decision needs explicit evidence, tests, decision gates, and continue-adjust-stop criteria. Use when applying validation planning, experiment design, hypothesis test design, decision gates, or learning plan.
license	Apache-2.0

Validation Plan

Use this skill to turn a recommendation into a testable plan with evidence standards and decision gates.

Method Notes

• Validation is not the same as implementation. It defines what evidence will increase or reduce confidence.
• A good validation plan names the hypothesis, test, signal, threshold, owner, timing, and decision rule.
• It should be proportional to risk: higher-risk decisions need stronger validation.

Required Inputs

Collect or infer these inputs before execution:

• recommendation or hypothesis to validate
• decision consequence and risk level
• available evidence and current confidence
• feasible tests or evidence sources
• timeline, owner, and decision deadline

If an input is missing, mark it as missing, state the assumption used, and add a validation action.

When Not To Use

Do not use when the user has not yet formed a hypothesis or action option. Use evidence-map, issue-tree, or hypothesis-tree first.

Step-by-Step Execution

Step	Required input	How to execute	Output
State the hypothesis	Recommendation, expected outcome, current confidence.	Write the claim to be validated in one testable sentence.	Validation hypothesis.
Define decision consequence	Risk, reversibility, cost of wrong action.	Decide how strong the evidence must be before action.	Evidence standard.
Select validation method	Evidence sources, access, timeline.	Choose interview, document check, commitment test, pilot, prototype, data analysis, stakeholder signal, or market test.	Validation method.
Define success and failure signals	Hypothesis, expected behavior, thresholds.	Make pass, adjust, and stop criteria explicit.	Decision criteria.
Plan execution	Owner, timing, script or data need, dependencies.	Specify who does what by when and with what artifact.	Validation workplan.
Decide next gate	Test result, action options.	Define what decision will be made after evidence arrives.	Continue / adjust / stop gate.

Output Template

### 1. Hypothesis To Validate
- Working hypothesis:
- Current confidence:
- Cost of being wrong:

### 2. Evidence Standard
- Required confidence before action:
- Minimum evidence needed:
- Evidence that would weaken the recommendation:

### 3. Validation Plan
| Test | What it validates | Method | Owner / actor | Timing | Pass signal | Adjust signal | Stop signal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  |  | interview / document check / pilot / commitment test / data analysis / stakeholder signal / market test |  |  |  |  |  |

### 4. Decision Gate
- Continue if:
- Adjust if:
- Stop if:
- Escalate if:

### 5. Next Step
- First validation action:
- Exact evidence to bring back:

Quality Gate

• Every validation test must connect to a specific hypothesis.
• Do not use vanity signals such as polite interest when commitment is required.
• Define disconfirming evidence, not only confirming evidence.
• Match validation depth to decision risk and reversibility.
• Keep the plan realistic for the user's access and timeline.