Why a scoping tool that refuses 4 out of 7 states is a feature, not a bug

A software scoping tool built for idea validation is deliberately designed to refuse output in four of its seven possible states, including when an idea is unevaluated or has inconclusive evidence. Rather than producing a scaled-down scope or a cautionary plan, the tool returns an empty result with an explanation, preventing teams from building on unvalidated assumptions. When the tool does proceed, it requires six mandatory fields, including a quit condition and an explicit list of features intentionally excluded from the build. Every must-have feature must also name the user need it addresses, and the build window is capped at four weeks to discourage long, faith-based development cycles. The design philosophy treats anything not positively recognised as validated as unvalidated, ensuring the system fails closed rather than inadvertently enabling premature development.