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Principle Stress-Test Board

Test whether your architecture principles can actually guide decisions by pitting them against concrete scenarios.

PreliminaryDerived from TOGAF

The principle gauntlet: a candidate is run through four named tests in turn

A candidate principle enters on the left and passes through four test gates: Understandability, Robustness, Completeness and Consistency. Clearing all four reaches Adopted; failing any one drops to Removed.

A principle that fails any test is not a principle, it is an opinion. Running the candidate through every gate makes the decision explicit, so a weak candidate is removed before it constrains downstream design.

The principle gauntlet: a candidate is run through four named tests in turn A horizontal gauntlet. A blue candidate node, the proposed principle, enters a row of four test gates: Test 1 Understandability, can a non-architect explain it in one sentence; Test 2 Robustness, does it survive the next change of context; Test 3 Completeness, does it cover every relevant case; Test 4 Consistency, does it agree with the other principles. Each gate also names the failure signature that removes a candidate. Blue pass arrows link the gates left to right; from every gate a red fail arrow drops to a shared Removed lane below. Only after all four pass does a blue arrow reach Adopted. A red note states that a principle which fails any test is not a principle, it is an opinion. Candidate Proposed principle Test 1 Understandability Can a non-architectexplain it in onesentence? Fails when Jargon, acronyms, morethan one reading Test 2 Robustness Does it survive thenext change ofcontext? Fails when Tied to a vendor, aproject or a hypecycle Test 3 Completeness Does it cover everyrelevant case? Fails when Carve-outs, edgecases, hiddenassumptions Test 4 Consistency Does it agree with theothers on the board? Fails when Contradicts orconflicts anotherprinciple enters Removed Any single failure drops the candidate out of the board before adoption. All four passed Adopted Pass pathFail path A principle that fails any test is not a principle, it is an opinion.Running the candidate through every gate removes a weak candidate before it constrains downstream design.
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