The 15-Minute AI Fix Viability Scorecard

Before approving budget or developer time to fix a failing AI model, score the proposed solution across these four operational dimensions.

Rate each category from 1 (Severe Friction / High Risk) to 5 (Seamless / High Return).

1. Desirability — Trust Quotient

Adoption risk: Users will embrace this fix — previous model instability has not burned trust beyond repair.

If trust is damaged, map a change-management step before scoring higher than 2.
Workflow alignment: The solution fits how your team already works — no forced behavioral shift required.

Unnatural pivots require training budget. If none is planned, reduce score by 1.

Section score (1–5): [ ]

Operational steps: This fix does not add net-new clicks, prompts, or manual verification steps to the daily workflow.

Every extra step is a defection point. Count the added steps; if >2, cap score at 3.
Fallback protocol: A clear, built-in fallback loop exists for when the model remains uncertain — users never hit a dead end.

If the fallback requires a ticket or an IT call, it won’t be used. Design must be self-service.

Section score (1–5): [ ]

Talent capability: Your internal team can maintain this change independently — no heavy vendor dependency is created.

If maintenance requires the vendor’s PS team, add vendor lock-in cost to viability section.
Pipeline architecture: Existing infrastructure supports this change without a database overhaul or replatform event.

Any “we’d need to rebuild X first” is a red flag. Break that into a separate initiative and rerun this scorecard.

Section score (1–5): [ ]

ROI justification: The lifetime business value of this fix outpaces implementation cost plus ongoing compute — you can model it in a spreadsheet, not just feel it.

If you cannot produce a rough NPV in 15 minutes, the ROI case is not ready. Score ≤2 until it is.
Compliance protection: This fix actively reduces verified legal, brand, or security exposure — not theoretical risk.

Cite the specific regulation, incident, or audit finding. Vague risk does not justify budget.

Section score (1–5): [ ]

Add your four section scores:

Score	Verdict	Action
17–20	Greenlight — proceed to deployment	The fix is technically sound, operationally viable, and commercially justified. Assign a sprint, set a rollback threshold, and ship.
13–16	Proceed with conditions	The technical path is valid but needs support work first. Identify your lowest-scoring dimension, resolve the blocker, then rescore before committing budget.
Under 13	Kill the fix — return to root-cause analysis	Severe friction, weak ROI, or user rejection risk makes this fix more expensive than the problem. Document the failure mode and rerun root-cause analysis before proposing a new solution.

Total score: ___ / 20

Decision: _________________________________

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