Template for Documenting Proof-of-Concept Projects

This is a guiding template for short-term exploratory projects. Many sections are optional either in their presence or scope and can be excluded based on the project at hand.

• Status: 🟡 In Progress / ✅ Complete / ❌ Abandoned / ⏸️ On Hold
• Duration: Start Date - End Date
• Type: Data Analysis/Infrastructure/Hardware/Possible Product
• Repository: GitHub Repository
• Team: Person1, Person2

What we're exploring: 2-3 sentences on what this POC investigates and why it matters.

A description of the used hardware and software. The scope is up to the judgement of the team.

Suggestions for projects with hardware:

• List of hardware-parts (e.g. Raspberry Pi 3, …)
• Version of the operating system and method of setup.
• Additional notes on setup.

Suggestions for projects with software:

• Programming Language & Package Versions, Docker image, …
• Notes on setup / required steps to get things working.
• Git Repo (Code, Dockerfiles, Configs, …)

Suggestions for projects with data:

• Data source and when it was acquired/downloaded
• Description of changes to data, ideally with scripts + dependencies in git repo.

• Bullet points of successful approaches

• Failed approaches (and why)
• Performance bottlenecks discovered
• Incompatibilities found

• Unexpected discoveries
• Hidden complexities
• Simpler alternatives found

Should we proceed?: Yes/No/Maybe

If yes, what needs to happen?

• Official Documentation
• Relevant SO Discussion
• Related Internal Documentation