From intention to experience
A training provider wants learners to receive suitable alternatives after a course cancellation. It can describe that intention, introduce a change, run the service and review whether its arrangements remain acceptable.
A Simple Architectural Framework (ASAF) calls these continuing process areas Visioning, Transforming, Operating and Governing. They apply across the aspects.
| Process area | Work | An example question |
|---|---|---|
| Visioning | Describe the intended or ideal future. | What outcome should the cancellation service achieve for the learner? |
| Transforming | Plan and introduce changes towards that direction. | What can the first process-only increment establish? |
| Operating | Run, support and maintain the current arrangements. | Who resolves an incomplete handover or an unknown booking result? |
| Governing | Set and review policy, decision authority, assurance and exceptions. | Who may accept a changed responsibility or unresolved risk? |
The Process aspect describes the organisation’s work and rules. These process areas describe work on the architecture and the organisation’s direction, transformation, operation and governance.
Conceptual descriptions explain the main ideas; Logical descriptions specify the design without implementation choices; Physical descriptions give implementation details. Each can be used in any process area. A proposed Physical description is distinct from a record of what has actually been built. The levels guide develops this distinction.
Cycles within the work
The areas can operate together, and work can return to any of them. A failed recovery check during a change can prompt the team to reconsider an operating assumption. Repeated problems in use can change the intended outcome. Governance continues while those decisions are made and acted on.
An iteration may include activities from several areas. Their timing, scope, coordination and authority depend on the method and the decision. The aspect cycle guides explore those choices: Business architecture, Systems and Security provide starting points.
For more detail, follow operating cycles or the Management guide. The architecture cycles connect recurring questions, delivery arrangements and their settings.
Methodology configuration
Relate these areas to your stages, reviews and iterations. Record what prompts a review, who decides and where the results are kept. Use Methodology configuration to map them to your method.
Dials
Choose the cadence, scope and authority for each recurring decision. A local change may use short feedback cycles while a shared policy needs wider review. Keep these settings with the retained decision and its next review trigger.