Ten stages, one loop
The lifecycle
Each stage has a purpose, a defining artefact, an exit gate, and a characteristic failure the gate exists to catch.
- Discover — Who is this for, and what do they need?
- Specify — What exactly must a learner be able to do?
- Architect — How will every outcome be taught and assessed?
- Scaffold — Is the shape of the whole package right?
- Test-first — What evidence will show the learner can do it?
- Build — What does a learner need to succeed at those assessments?
- Orchestrate — Can this be delivered in the time and modes we have?
- Validate and release — Is it fit for use, and which version is going out?
- Deliver and observe — How is the program performing with real learners?
- Improve — What did we learn, and where does each change go?
The ten stages
| # | Stage | Defining artefact | Exit gate | Failure it prevents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Discover | Needs analysis, learner profiles, delivery constraints | Need and cohort agreed | Building the right course for the wrong learners |
| 2 | Specify | A structured standard | Standard complete and active | Designing against an outdated or misread standard |
| 3 | Architect | Mapping matrix, assessment strategy | Coverage plan approved | Gaps discovered only at audit |
| 4 | Scaffold | Skeletons of every deliverable | Structure approved | Rewriting finished content to fix its order |
| 5 | Test-first | Assessment tasks, marking guides, a simulated workplace or case study | Compliance, pedagogy and subject-matter sign-off | Content that teaches what is never assessed, and the reverse |
| 6 | Build | Learning materials and activities | Accuracy and quality review | Inaccurate or unreadable materials |
| 7 | Orchestrate | Session or module plan | Every outcome has a delivery session | A program that cannot be delivered in the time available |
| 8 | Validate and release | Validation record, release identifier | Released to a named cohort | Unvalidated tools reaching learners |
| 9 | Deliver and observe | Delivery signals, results, feedback, complaints and appeals | Cohort complete | Problems that are felt but never recorded |
| 10 | Improve | Improvement log, change requests | Changes accepted into the next release | The same flaw reaching cohort after cohort |
Two halves
Design and release (stages 1 to 8) formalises what experienced practitioners already do: specify, map, scaffold, write the assessment first, build, orchestrate and validate. Each stage adds detail and ends at a review gate, so effort is only invested once the previous stage holds.
Operate and improve (stages 9 and 10) is what few institutions yet do. Release versions and observe how a program performs with real learners. Treat complaints and appeals as reports of defects in the program, measure curriculum debt, and route what is learned back into design. We argue this half is where the largest unrealised value lies.
What a gate is
A gate is a review point at the end of a stage that must be passed before effort is invested in the next. Errors are cheapest to fix at the blurriest stage: reviewing a coverage plan costs far less than rewriting a finished assessment. Gates also differ in strictness. A regulated provider may need formal compliance sign-off at stage 5; an independent expert may need only a second reader.
Design principles
- Specification first. Every program traces to an explicit learning standard, whether externally regulated or authored in-house.
- Evidence before content. Assessment is designed before learning materials, so content exists to enable demonstrated outcomes.
- Progressive elaboration with gates. Detail increases stage by stage, and each stage is reviewed before effort is invested in the next.
- Traceability end to end. Every assessment task, content block and delivery session traces to the outcome it serves, and the reverse.
- Versioned releases. Every cohort receives an identifiable version of the program, so outcomes can be attributed to what was actually delivered.
- Observe in operation. Delivery generates evidence about the program, not only about learners.
- Close the loop. Findings from delivery and post-use validation become change requests that re-enter the lifecycle.
- Opinionated about structure, flexible about process. The stages and artefacts are universal. Terminology, packaging, grading scales and approval workflows are configured per institution and sector.
Five cross-cutting practices run across every stage, and six guardrails follow from the fact that learners are people. The words used here are defined in the glossary. For readers who know software, where the idea came from sets out the parallels.