Architourge

How it works

Start with the change. Follow what it makes untrue.

Architourge investigates a change wherever it originates, finds what can no longer be assumed, traces the decisions that relied on it, and helps determine how the product should adapt.

Change→Invalidation→Dependence→Consequence→Response

The method

Five questions turn change into informed action.

The process does not begin by searching for everything connected to a changed component. It begins by asking what the change means for the current understanding of the product.

  1. 01

    Observe the change

    Receive a proposed intervention or detect a relevant change in the product or its environment.

  2. 02

    Determine what became untrue

    Identify assumptions, evidence, requirements, or conditions that should no longer be relied upon.

  3. 03

    Trace what depended on it

    Follow technical dependencies and the justification relationships that made existing decisions valid.

  4. 04

    Establish the consequences

    Reveal which commitments, behaviours, controls, and outcomes now require attention.

  5. 05

    Develop a response

    Recommend an intervention that achieves the objective while preserving what must remain true.

The critical distinction

A dependency says what is connected. A justification says why something is valid.

Systems contain relationships that ordinary graphs rarely preserve. Evidence supports an assumption. That assumption justifies a decision. The decision exists to satisfy a requirement or commitment. When the evidence changes, the decision may need to be reconsidered even when no technical connection has broken.

EvidenceUsage record shows 18,420 completed jobs
supports
AssumptionRecorded activity matches the agreed billable unit
justifies
DecisionInvoice the customer for 18,420 units
satisfies
ObligationsAccurate, consistent, and explainable charging

Reason across every level

The starting point changes. The question does not.

Change can originate in purpose, implementation, or the world around the product. Architourge follows its meaning in whichever direction the situation requires.

From intent
  1. 01Objective
  2. 02Requirements
  3. 03Architecture
  4. 04Implementation
From implementation
  1. 01Code
  2. 02Behaviour
  3. 03Decisions
  4. 04Business consequences
From the environment
  1. 01External change
  2. 02Assumptions
  3. 03Obligations
  4. 04Required adaptation

How the method becomes possible

Artificial Apperception and the Appercept.

Artificial Apperception uses model intelligence to discover what must be understood, investigate evidence through relevant perspectives, expose contradiction and uncertainty, and revise understanding as the product and its environment change.

Explore Artificial Apperception
Explicit
Assumptions, evidence, decisions, requirements, and their relationships remain available for inspection.
Persistent
The Appercept preserves what has been understood so each investigation does not start again from raw context.
Evolving
New evidence and change can revise earlier understanding while preserving provenance and uncertainty.

See it on your system

Bring us a change whose consequences are difficult to see.

Explore a design partnership