Start with the live situation
A useful case does not begin with a fashionable framework. It states the choice, who bears it, the timing and the consequence of deferring it.
- Decision owner
- Deadline
- Status quo
05 · Use cases
Decision use cases
WHAT TO CHECK
A short path linking context, method, tool and expected decision.
- 01Name the owner, deadline and decision question.
- 02Separate available facts from missing information.
- 03Set criteria and review conditions before choosing.
Compare options on the same basis
Each option is described with its expected value, evidence gaps, risks, resources and reversibility. This prevents an appealing narrative from becoming the default answer.
- Comparable criteria
- Evidence gaps
- Trade-offs
Leave with a trace and a trigger
The output captures the selected action, objections, assumptions and next evidence to collect. A named trigger makes revision possible when conditions move.
- Decision record
- Open assumptions
- Review trigger
VALIDATION DOSSIER
State the decision contract
Use the question “How can a concrete situation become a documented decision?” as a contract: name the owner, deadline, scope and alternatives before collecting more material. Start from a situation, compare credible options and assemble the evidence required for an accountable trade-off. Record what is deliberately outside scope, who can challenge the framing and what consequence follows from postponement. This prevents an attractive framework, actor list or market story from silently replacing the decision that the analysis is meant to support.
- Owner and deadline
- Comparable alternatives
- Explicit boundary
- Cost of delay
VALIDATION DOSSIER
Build an inspectable evidence register
For every material statement, retain the original source, publication date, observation period, method, unit and relevant population. Distinguish observed facts, calculated estimates, interview judgements and assumptions. Connect the register to the promised output: A short path linking context, method, tool and expected decision. Missing or contradictory evidence remains visible with a responsible owner and a collection action; it is never converted into certainty merely to complete the page.
- Primary source
- Method and unit
- Confidence
- Evidence gap
VALIDATION DOSSIER
Apply one operating convention
Define the rules before applying the analysis: inclusion criteria, identifiers, comparison set, calculation or coding convention, treatment of missing values and version date. Reproduce the same convention across every option or actor. Use the page checks as acceptance tests, beginning with “Name the owner, deadline and decision question.” A conclusion is usable only when another practitioner can reconstruct how the inputs became the displayed result and identify where judgement entered.
- Stable definitions
- Common comparison
- Versioned inputs
- Reproducible transformation
VALIDATION DOSSIER
Test uncertainty and rival interpretations
Challenge the preferred interpretation with at least one plausible alternative, contradictory observation and sensitivity test. Separate association from prediction and never infer intent, power or causality from a position, score or visual proximity alone. The standing limit remains: A use case illustrates a process; it is not universal proof. State which uncertainty is most likely to reverse the conclusion and what additional observation would discriminate between the competing explanations.
- Alternative explanation
- Counterevidence
- Sensitivity
- Decision-changing uncertainty
VALIDATION DOSSIER
Record the action and reopening rule
Turn the analysis into a dated decision record rather than a static page. Preserve the selected option, rejected alternatives, objections, accepted risks and first reversible action. Name the signal, numerical or qualitative threshold, review owner and review date that will confirm, adapt, pause or reopen the decision. Link every later update to its author and reason so that the history remains understandable when evidence or market conditions change.
- Decision trace
- First reversible step
- Review threshold
- Named owner
VALIDATION DOSSIER
Case 1 — choose a market
Frame entry as a comparison between the status quo, at least two access paths and a learning option. Use the same market boundary, horizon and currency for attractiveness, accessibility, capability and risk. For each path, state the evidence already available, the proof still missing and the maximum reversible commitment. The case ends with a mandate, not with a claim that a market is intrinsically attractive.
- Market boundary
- Access paths
- Ability to win
- Learning commitment
VALIDATION DOSSIER
Case 2 — reposition an offer
Describe the target customer, current alternative, promised difference and evidence that the difference matters. Compare keeping the current position, changing the promise, changing the proof or changing the target. Separate customer value, willingness to pay and delivery capability. The recommendation names the experiment, sample, success threshold and adverse signal that would stop or revise the repositioning before a broad rollout.
- Target and alternative
- Valued difference
- Proof mechanism
- Experiment threshold
VALIDATION DOSSIER
Case 3 — prepare a committee
Give every option the same one-page structure: decision question, evidence, estimate ranges, resources, risks, reversibility and unresolved objections. Weights express preferences, not facts, and binding constraints cannot be compensated by a high total score. Show which reasonable change in a weight or estimate would reverse the ranking, then preserve minority views and the explicit conditions under which the committee will reconvene.
- Symmetric options
- Preferences separated
- Sensitivity
- Minority view
VALIDATION DOSSIER
Make the mandate reusable
A reusable case retains the input version, definitions, calculations, sources and decision record together. Replace organisation-specific names with roles only in the teaching example, while preserving the mechanism and units. A second team should be able to reproduce the reasoning with its own evidence without copying the original conclusion. Note which steps are mandatory, which are adaptable and which require human judgement.
- Versioned inputs
- Reusable protocol
- Local evidence
- Human judgement
VALIDATION DOSSIER
Close the learning loop
After the decision, compare expected and observed outcomes at the agreed date. Record surprises, implementation deviations and evidence that changed confidence in the original assumptions. Do not rewrite the initial rationale after the fact. The review determines whether to continue, adapt, pause or exit and feeds the updated observation back into the relevant market dossier, method and future decision case.
- Expected outcome
- Observed result
- Assumption update
- Continue, adapt or exit
LIMIT
A use case illustrates a process; it is not universal proof.
- UK Government, The Green Book (opens in a new tab)Official guidance on options appraisal, uncertainty and proportionate evidence for public decisions.