B.4:4.3 - Keep the four phase claims distinct
These phases distinguish questions and results, not necessarily disjoint clock intervals. Operation and observation can overlap; state the actual Work occurrences and any result dependencies needed by the transition.
| Phase | Current question | Output and boundary |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Operate | How is the current subject actually operating or being used? | Name the current use or operation and any records that actually exist. Monitoring may occur, but a record does not by itself establish an observation, comparison, or change. |
| 2. Observe | What do records, measurements, testimony, or other evidence show for the named use? | Name the observation, comparison, or interpretation Work. Separately identify the observed basis, finding, hypothesis, or still-unclear cue through the direct result or evidence rule that actually applies; Work has no generic result field. Observe does not yet choose a change. |
| 3. Refine | What change should be developed and tested in response, and what identity relation would that change have? | Name the design, revision, selection, and testing Work. Separately identify the selected candidate and the subject-specific identity question or intended treatment. State a continuity, successor, substitution, refinement, or edition relation only when its exact endpoints exist and its own conditions obtain. Refine does not make the candidate available for renewed use. |
| 4. Deploy | What concrete deployment Work occurred for the selected candidate? | Name that Work. Then state separately what actually happened—for example, a changed or produced entity, publication, configuration, release, or availability—using the rule that establishes that fact. Acceptance, admission, and actual later use remain separate facts. |
Use explicit transition conditions:
- Operate -> Observe: a named cue, question, monitoring result, or review need requires interpretation.
- Observe -> Refine: the receiving use has an observed basis or a routed cue from which a change question can be formed.
- Refine -> Deploy: one candidate is selected and its subject-specific identity question or intended treatment is explicit. State an obtaining continuity, successor, substitution, refinement, or edition relation here only when both endpoints already exist; otherwise keep the question open until the relevant change or production has occurred.
- Deploy -> Operate: actual renewed operation or use begins; availability alone does not close this transition.
Evidence is not a fifth phase. Evidence relations warrant the observed basis, candidate choice, transition, or renewed-use claim when a receiver relies on them. Evidence can be produced or used during several phases without duplicating those phases.