Examine the records
The evaluation begins by examining the requirements, the data documentation and the design documentation.
What clause 9.2.4.1 asks
The evaluation opens with the paperwork: the requirements, the data record and the design record. The aim is to learn what the system is meant to do, what data it uses and how it is put together before any test is run. This is not a box-ticking exercise. It is how the team knows which claims the tests should support, and it often exposes a requirement with no test or a field with no source.
Why it matters
A test team that starts with the test data will test what is easy to measure. A team that starts with the records will test what the requirements say matters. The records also reveal the gaps: a requirement with no test, a data field with no provenance, a design decision with no rationale. Those gaps are findings in their own right, even before a metric is calculated.
What good looks like
Read the requirements with the evaluation report template open. For each requirement, note the test that would show whether it is met. Read the data documentation for the fields that carry the protected attributes. Read the design documentation for the components that transform or present the data. Record every gap and send it to the owner before the test plan is fixed.
Evidence an assessor asks for
The assessor will ask which requirement a test supports. A test that supports no requirement is either unnecessary or evidence of a missing requirement.
- Requirements trace Each requirement mapped to the test that would show whether it is met
- Data documentation review The fields that carry protected attributes and their provenance
- Design review The components that transform or present the data
- Gap list Every gap found in the records, with the owner and the action
Where it commonly fails
- The test plan is written before the requirements are read
- The data documentation is skipped because the data team is trusted
- The design review is a code review with no bias question
What to do before publication
Read the records before the test plan. The records decide what the test is for.
Read across
- 9.2.2 Evaluation of design and outputs: inputs
- 9.2.3 Evaluation of design and outputs: outputs
- 9.2.4 Evaluation of design and outputs: actions
- 9.2.4.2 Examine data pre-processing
← 9.2.4 Evaluation of design and outputs: actions9.2.4.2 Examine data pre-processing →