System increments are partial or full integrations of system versions that are verified by internal or external tests and (depending on the degree of regulation) by user or market tests.
System increments are often created at cluster level, i.e. by integrating sub-products from the various Teams in a Cluster.
For the System increment, P4 has adopted the types and definitions of patterns from the Design Thinking Framework. They also define the maturity levels of the samples.
The maturity level is ultimately defined by the type and number of knowledge gaps. Samples are created to close Knowledge Gaps.
| Prototype | Name | Description |
| B | Base Prototype | for design space exploration |
| C | Critical Function Prototype | Need finding; feasibility; fail early |
| D | Dark Horse Prototype | The alternative; thinking out of the box |
| E | Emergent Prototype | Combining several Functions and ideas; iterative and incremental |
| F | Functional Prototype | Fully functional, but differs in (e.g. form-factor) |
| G | Gap Closing Prototype | Specific to close Knowledge Gaps or prove Hypotheses |
| H | Hindmost Prototype | Closest to series production |
All Prototype can appear as iterating Prototypes, like G1, G2, G3.
Further suitable links:
| Events | Roles | Groups | Artifacts |
| Cluster Planning | .
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Team Product Owner Group
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Inspectable Results
. Usable Knowledge & System Increment . |