Solution exploration

The most expensive bugs are decisions, not defects. This runs before implementation, not instead of it.

Establish what is actually wanted

The stated request is a proposed solution wearing the clothes of a requirement. Get underneath it:

• What outcome does the person want? What breaks today without it?
• Who else touches this, and what do they assume about it now?
• What is explicitly not being asked for?
• How will we know it worked — the observable difference.

If the answers conflict, stop and resolve that first. Building the average of two requirements satisfies neither.

Generate genuinely different options