research-document PILOT-MEASUREMENT-communication-engineering
Communication Engineering ROS Pilot Measurement Plan
Communication Engineering ROS pilot measurement plan
Evaluation question
Does the ROS greenfield profile improve decision quality, traceability, handoff continuity, and avoidable rework enough to justify its operating cost?
Baseline
Define before implementation. Prefer either a comparable prior project or a lightweight workflow specified before results are known. Record material differences that prevent direct comparison.
Measures
| Measure | Operational definition | Collection point |
|---|---|---|
| Time to first accepted vertical slice | Elapsed working time from scope freeze to acceptance | milestone |
| Decision trace coverage | Material decisions with rationale, alternatives, and evidence / all reviewed material decisions | review |
| Assumption escape count | Material assumptions discovered only after implementation began | continuous |
| Rework | Time spent reversing avoidable decisions or recreating missing context | continuous |
| Handoff reconstruction | Time and missing questions for a new operator to continue | handoff test |
| Operating overhead | Time spent maintaining ROS-specific artifacts and checks | continuous |
| Outcome quality | Slice-specific user or system acceptance measures | milestone |
Falsification conditions
The pilot should count against adoption if:
- operating overhead is material and no decision, handoff, or rework benefit is observed;
- records cannot reconstruct why consequential choices were made;
- artifacts repeatedly drift from implementation;
- the process delays risk discovery rather than accelerating it; or
- outcome quality is indistinguishable while cost is materially higher.
Decision rule
At the first milestone, choose one: continue unchanged, simplify, revise, pause, or reject. Document the evidence and uncertainties; do not convert a single successful project into a general discipline claim.