Understand new requests before changing scope

Check why the request arises

A later requirement may be a new priority. It may also reveal that a user role or work step remained unclear at the start. GOV.UK recommends challenging assumptions and understanding users across the whole journey during discovery. This does not prevent every later change but gives the conversation a better foundation.

Calling something “out of scope” does not explain its cause. Examine the goal, previous description and new justification before assessing cost and schedule effects.

Example: requests for a customer portal

These situations are entirely fictional. The original goal is for customers to follow their service requests. The table describes possible classifications and next steps, not decided contractual cases.

In the first case, late mention proves neither entitlement to free work nor a justified surcharge. The gap needs joint clarification. In the second, the earlier language boundary is explicit. In the third, the additional service is initially an option; a proposal is not an order.

Record a traceable decision

Compare the original goal, agreed outcomes, assumptions and new findings. Check with affected people whether the request is necessary to complete their task. Distinguish necessary correction, deferrable expansion and dispensable additions where the facts permit.

Record effects on effort, cost, schedule, tests and later maintenance. Agree how to handle the request and update affected documents before implementation. Analysing the cause does not replace that agreement; it makes the actual decision visible.

Sources

• GOV.UK · How the discovery phase works