Architecture & Evidence

Full ZASS deliberately separates two questions:

Architecture Readiness
= Are we clear enough to build or confirm the architecture?

Evidence Confidence
= How strongly are important assumptions, risks and decisions
  supported by observed evidence?

They are related, but they are not the same measurement.

ZERO → ARCHITECTURE

Current weighted criteria:

Criterion	Weight
Purpose / problem	10
Users / stakeholders / outcomes	10
Scope / non-goals	10
Constraints / quality	10
Options / trade-offs	10
Critical assumptions closed / experiments	15
Major risks	10
Main flow	10
Major decisions LOCKED	10
No critical blocker	5

Each criterion may be scored 0, 0.5 or 1 according to the documented state.

Readiness bands

Score	State
0–19%	RAW
20–39%	EXPLORING
40–59%	SHAPING
60–69%	DECIDING
70–84%	READY FOR DRAFT ARCH
85–99%	DRAFT ARCH UNDER REVIEW — only if an actual draft exists and is under review
100%	ARCHITECTURE CONFIRMED

Important:

• 70% may justify suggesting a draft.
• 85% does not automatically mean a draft exists.
• 100% is reserved for architecture confirmed through the owner gate.
• A score is architecture readiness, not coding progress.

Evidence Confidence

Use a qualitative label:

UNVALIDATED

No observed empirical evidence for the relevant critical assumptions.

LOW

Evidence is limited or indirect, or major critical assumptions remain untested.

MEDIUM

Relevant evidence exists, but coverage or real-world validation remains incomplete.

HIGH

Strong direct evidence covers the relevant critical assumptions and major risks.

Do not create a second percentage.

Mandatory display rule — Full ZASS v0.3.5

Evidence Confidence must be shown when:

1. a real/current ZERO → ARCHITECTURE assessment is shown;
2. readiness for DRAFT ARCH is evaluated;
3. BUILD ARCHITECTURE is run;
4. architecture is already CONFIRMED while validation or experiments remain incomplete.

Example:

🏗️ ZERO → ARCHITECTURE: 82% — READY FOR DRAFT ARCH
🔬 EVIDENCE CONFIDENCE: LOW

Reason:
Major decisions are clear, but important real-world assumptions
still have limited observed evidence.

If there is no observed empirical evidence for the relevant critical assumptions, report UNVALIDATED.

Never invent evidence.

Static documentation/template examples do not trigger the mandatory display rule.

Confirmed architecture can still have low evidence confidence

This is valid:

Architecture Readiness: 100%
Architecture: CONFIRMED
Evidence Confidence: LOW

It means the architecture is internally clear and approved, while real-world validation is still incomplete.

That is not a contradiction.

Confirmation gate

DRAFT ARCH
    ↓
BUILD ARCHITECTURE
    ↓
show decisions + readiness + assumptions + blockers
    ↓
YA, CONFIRM ARCHITECTURE
    ↓
ARCHITECTURE CONFIRMED

Architecture must follow owner-approved decisions. Missing major architectural decisions should be surfaced as blockers rather than silently assumed.