PSD.8:1 - Problem frame

Use this when an inquiry has clarified what matters but the proposed decision still contains only the incumbent, a sponsor’s preferred project, or two labels such as “buy or build”. Also use it when a request for development advice names a course, provider, reorganization, or AI tool before the possible directions have been constructed.

Start by asking what different action could address each live formulation or concern. Change the mechanism, arrangement, combination, timing, or commitment being considered, then state enough of each resulting alternative for a fair consequence comparison. The practical gain is a choice worth examining, including an honest gap when no supported alternative is available.

The governed object is the candidate set, not a selected action. A candidate describes a possible intervention or commitment; its description does not establish feasibility, permission, performed Work, or benefit. Alternatives may address competing formulations rather than obtain exactly the same result. Preserve that difference instead of inventing parity.

Do not use this pattern when an adequate finite set already exists and only comparison or an authorized choice remains. Use the direct domain practice when it already owns the complete alternative-generation question. A population or lineage without a population-local recipient or chooser is not a recipient of development advice; an authorized researcher’s intervention is a different decision-support case.