Disclosure: I maintain the diagram referenced below. This teaching example was drafted by an AI assistant and checked against that diagram. It is an educational synthesis, not an official standard.
The five-minute exercise
Use a fictional password-reset change:
- Name the user problem.
- Sketch the reset flow.
- Identify a test and its expected result.
- Choose a reversible release step.
- Decide which production signal would send the team back to discovery.
Ask learners what evidence crosses each handoff rather than which tool logo belongs in each box.
Follow the evidence
Discover establishes the need. Design makes the flow and constraints explicit. Build produces reviewed and tested changes. Deliver moves a trusted artifact into production. Operate watches behavior and supports recovery. Learn decides what should change next. These responsibilities can overlap. Deployment does not end the loop.
Discussion prompt
An increase in failed resets appears after a release. Which evidence would you inspect, how would you reduce immediate harm, and which discovery assumption might need revisiting? There is no universal numeric threshold in this example. The learner must state an appropriate signal and a reversible response for the fictional system.
Diagram reference
Source: Software Delivery Observatory, Software Development Life Cycle Diagram. The reference includes a text transcript and diagram files. Consult its published reuse terms before adapting or sharing the diagram. This article does not grant additional rights or apply a Creative Commons license.
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