git:20260401.c120450 to git:20260417.5da48f5

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name: phase5-prove

description: The Mileva Method (CRISP) — Phase 5: Prove. Success validation against Phase R baseline metrics. Use after deployment. Triggers on "prove", "phase 5", "validate", "did it work", "success criteria", "measure results", or after go-live.

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# P — Prove: Success Validation

> Did the needle move?

This phase closes the loop back to Phase R. One question drives everything.

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## What to Measure

Pull the baseline and targets from `docs/success-metrics.md` and measure against them:

- **Quantitative:** Did each metric hit its target? (e.g. "quotes sent in 4min vs 4h before")

- **Qualitative:** Re-run the survey or interview from the Phase R baseline frustration score — did it improve?

- **Second-order effects:** Did the downstream impacts materialise? (e.g. cart abandonment dropped after checkout speed improved)

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## Outcomes

**Success** → document what worked, close the project, capture learnings.

**Partial** → identify which metrics hit and which didn't. Was the target unrealistic, or did the solution miss?

**Fail** → return to Phase R. The problem may have been misdiagnosed, or the success criteria were wrong.

> In Serbia, when things go sideways, we make jokes. It's not denial — it's perspective. Balkan humor is the ability to look at a disaster and find the absurdity before you find the culprit. Apply that here. If Phase P says fail, laugh once — then go back to Phase R with fresh eyes. A failed outcome is the most honest piece of data you'll collect in the whole project. The problem was misdiagnosed. Now you know exactly where. That's worth something.

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## Exit Checklist

- [ ] Quantitative metrics measured against baselines in `docs/success-metrics.md`

- [ ] Qualitative scores re-evaluated against Phase R frustration baseline

- [ ] Second-order effects checked

- [ ] Success / partial / fail called explicitly — no ambiguity

- [ ] Learnings documented

- [ ] Client signed off