Dt Rpi Integration

title: 'DT→RPI Handoff Contract' description: Formal contract for lateral handoffs from Design Thinking coaching into the RPI workflow, including exit points and confidence markers.

Defines the formal contract for lateral handoffs from Design Thinking coaching into the retained RPI phases: rpi-research, rpi-plan, rpi-implement, and rpi-review. Use this guidance whenever a team graduates from a DT space boundary or explicitly requests implementation support.

Tiered Handoff Schema

Three exit points align with DT space boundaries. Every exit targets rpi-research; the tier communicates how much validated DT evidence is available.

The exit tier describes the richness and completeness of artifacts provided to rpi-research, not which RPI phase to skip. Later exits provide richer context that may reduce the investigation scope, but they do not bypass research.

Every exit enters the RPI pipeline at rpi-research. Earlier exit points provide leaner artifacts requiring broader investigation. Later exit points provide richer, more validated artifacts that narrow the investigation scope. The full pipeline continues through rpi-plan, rpi-implement, and rpi-review; maturity never bypasses a phase. RPI Agent may coordinate the lifecycle, but the handoff artifact remains a research-ready input for rpi-research.

Exit-Point Artifact Schema

Record handoff artifacts in the coaching state transition_log using a lateral transition entry. Create a handoff summary file alongside the coaching state.

# .copilot-tracking/dt/{project-slug}/handoff-summary.md
exit_point: "problem-statement-complete | concept-validated | implementation-spec-ready"
dt_method: 3          # last completed DT method
dt_space: "problem"   # space being exited
handoff_target: "rpi-research"  # constant: all DT exits enter at rpi-research
date: "YYYY-MM-DD"

artifacts:
  - path: ".copilot-tracking/dt/{project-slug}/method-03-synthesis-themes.md"
    type: "synthesis-themes"
    confidence: validated
  - path: ".copilot-tracking/dt/{project-slug}/method-01-stakeholder-map.md"
    type: "stakeholder-map"
    confidence: validated

constraints:
  - description: "System must integrate with existing ERP"
    source: "stakeholder-interview"
    confidence: validated
  - description: "Budget limited to current fiscal year"
    source: "project-sponsor"
    confidence: assumed

assumptions:
  - description: "Maintenance team has tablet access on factory floor"
    confidence: unknown
    impact: "high"

RPI Input Contracts

Each retained RPI phase consumes DT context at a different point. Provide artifacts matching the phase's needs.

Frame the DT outputs as the research topic and reference artifact paths so rpi-research can read DT evidence directly rather than relying only on summarized context. The resulting context flows through rpi-plan, rpi-implement, and rpi-review.

Graduation Awareness Behavior

The DT coach monitors for handoff readiness at every space boundary using this four-step flow:

1. Detect: At each method boundary, assess whether the team's work satisfies the space boundary readiness signals defined in the method sequencing protocol.

2. Surface: When readiness signals are met, explicitly name the lateral handoff option alongside forward and backward options. State which exit point applies. All exits hand off to rpi-research.

3. Prepare: If the team chooses lateral handoff, follow the matching exit procedure in space-exit-handoffs.md to create the handoff summary file. Tag each artifact and constraint with a confidence marker. Identify gaps where confidence is unknown or conflicting.

4. Transfer: Record a lateral transition in the coaching state transition_log with rationale. Announce the handoff to rpi-research and provide the handoff summary path.

The coach remains available in an advisory capacity after handoff. If the RPI workflow surfaces questions that require DT methods, the team can resume coaching from the recorded state.

Handoff Quality Markers

Every artifact, constraint, and assumption in the handoff summary carries a confidence marker:

• All DT coaching artifacts are scoped to .copilot-tracking/dt/{project-slug}/. Never write DT artifacts directly under .copilot-tracking/dt/ without a project-slug directory.