Mock engagement: POC and evaluation

Overview

Module	field.04 · practice · docs · Pass 11 · 1 to 2 h
You build	docs/engagement/poc.md
Tests	course/tests/field.04 (named below, with why each exists)
Needs	none
Used by	no code call site; this is an independent artifact
Milestone	MS-P11

Key Takeaways

• Tie each claim to the exact platform evidence that Mock engagement: POC and evaluation produces.
• State the owner, success condition, and recovery action before declaring the work complete.
• Record unresolved assumptions so the next review can test them.

How to work this chapter

ol start field.04
ol tests field.04
ol check field.04

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1. Why now

A proof of concept needs a decision at its end. Evaluation criteria chosen after seeing results invite cherry-picking.

2. Principles

Set acceptance thresholds, representative tasks, comparison baseline, data handling, and rollback before the first run. Include operational and safety behavior as well as quality.

3. Worked example

Choose a small evaluation set with held-out cases. Compare candidate and baseline under a fixed seed and report quality, latency, cost, refusal behavior, and failure examples. State what the sample cannot establish.

4. The artifact and its check

Test	KIND	Checks	Why it matters downstream
test_artifact_paths_are_declared	artifact	Confirms the submitted paths and required evidence exist, so a plausible narrative cannot pass without the reviewable deliverable.

5. Pitfalls

#	Pitfall	Symptom	Caught by
1	The deliverable records a conclusion without its customer evidence	Another engineer cannot reproduce the sizing or recommendation.	test_artifact_paths_are_declared
2	An assumption is written as a measured fact	The engagement plan can promise capacity or security the system has not demonstrated.	test_artifact_paths_are_declared
3	The next owner and decision gate are missing	Work stalls at handoff even when the technical work is complete.	test_artifact_paths_are_declared

6. Where it’s used next

Direction	Module	Connection
Back	field.03	Read this declared prerequisite before producing the artifact; use it to verify the relevant contract or evidence.
Back	L6.7	Read this declared prerequisite before producing the artifact; use it to verify the relevant contract or evidence.
Back	ag.09	Read this declared prerequisite before producing the artifact; use it to verify the relevant contract or evidence.

Going further

Resource	What to inspect
Mock engagement sequence	Carry the evidence and open decisions into the next customer-facing artifact in the sequence.