experiments
External Forma Value Validation Pilot
Compare Forma-assisted and disciplined Markdown workflows for representative external knowledge-maintenance work without treating qualitative case narratives as measured outcomes.
Hypothesis
For selected recurring knowledge work, Forma makes structure, evidence, review boundaries, and reuse more reliable than a disciplined Markdown baseline without imposing an unsuitable domain model.
Case Corpus
The pilot starts from two published, user-authorized qualitative narratives in choral-io/knowledge-research:
They identify candidate domains and recurring jobs. They are not experimental results.
Protocol
- Recruit three to five external teams or maintainers across at least two domains.
- Select one representative recurring knowledge job and bounded corpus per participant.
- Record the disciplined Markdown baseline first.
- Configure a minimal Forma workspace that uses the participant's own vocabulary, templates, views, and review boundaries.
- Repeat the same job and collect the metric definitions without product telemetry.
- Record a per-claim decision: continue, narrow, reposition, or stop.
Stop Conditions
- The corpus is too sensitive or consent is incomplete.
- The compared jobs are not equivalent enough to support interpretation.
- Setup burden dominates the maintained-work benefit for the selected team.
- Evidence does not support a clear next product claim or scope.