Technical Processes
This chapter documents the six process flows that make up the DSP decision cycle. Where a module supplies capability, a process is a stage of the decision itself.
For what a process is, see Definition of a process.
The six processes
| # | Process | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Asset / Network Evaluation | The baseline: how the system currently works, performs and supports users |
| 2 | Problem Framing & Scope | Clearly articulated problems, and a long list of candidate interventions |
| 3 | Risk Reduction Analysis | Whether risk is acceptable, and a screened shortlist of feasible options |
| 4 | Detailed Option Assessment | How options compare, and a justified preferred option |
| 5 | Portfolio Optimisation | A deliverable programme: which, at what scale, in what order |
| 6 | Outcome Assessment | Whether it worked, and what the next decision should learn |
What each hands to the next
Every process ends with an output schema defining what the next stage receives. Read end to end, the chain narrows steadily:
| Stage | Produces | Which the next stage turns into |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A documented baseline understanding | Problem statements |
| 2 | Problem statements and a very long list of interventions | A screened shortlist |
| 3 | A shortlist with risk reduction needs attached | A ranked comparison |
| 4 | A preferred option or pathway, with evidence | A deliverable programme |
| 5 | A portfolio, with schedule and resources | Delivery, then measurement |
| 6 | Learning | The next pass through the cycle |
Traceability runs backwards through the whole chain
Three separate processes independently require their outputs to keep links back to what produced them: the risk reference in Risk Reduction Analysis, links to the preceding analysis in Detailed Option Assessment, and links to both in Portfolio Optimisation.
The intent is that any intervention in a final programme can be traced back to the specific risk it was chosen to address.
The common shape
Each process is documented to the same five-part structure:
| Section | What it answers |
|---|---|
| Purpose and questions answered | What the stage is for |
| Systematic steps | How to carry it out |
| Interviews, workshops, desk studies and data collection | What engagement it requires |
| Iterative steps | What sends you back round |
| Output schema for the next process | What it hands on |
Every process is iterative
All six carry an explicit iteration section. The DSP is drawn left to right, but outputs are stated to inform preceding as well as subsequent processes.
Asset / Network Evaluation puts the principle most usefully: iteration continues until the evidence supports progression, and complete certainty is not the target.
How completely each is documented
| Process | State of the source |
|---|---|
| Asset / Network Evaluation | Complete and detailed, with a full reference list |
| Detailed Option Assessment | Complete and detailed, with the fullest worked method in the handbook |
| Portfolio Optimisation | Complete and detailed |
| Risk Reduction Analysis | Complete |
| Problem Framing & Scope | Substantial, but two of its sections contain content belonging to other parts of the handbook, and one is empty |
| Outcome Assessment | A heading with five empty sub-headings |
Where the gaps are, they are marked
Every page states plainly what its source does and does not contain. Nothing has been invented to fill a gap.
The most developed method in the handbook
If you read one thing in this chapter, read the Multi-Criteria Analysis sequence in Detailed Option Assessment.
It is documented step by step with worked examples and photographs of the actual workshop materials, from identifying wider system impacts, through building the impact matrix and deriving criteria, to pairwise weighting with two independent stakeholder groups, scoring with recorded reasoning, and aggregating into a performance level.