In this section
01

What is under investigation

Four areas where the current model is incomplete and where live cases carry the most weight.

Method illusion

Where methods produce artifacts — documents, workshops, insights — without moving the system. The difference between visible activity and actual structural change.

Harm zones

Where methods reinforce the problem they were meant to solve. Applied at the wrong system level, correct practice produces incorrect outcomes.

Productive contradictions

Which contradictions drive product systems forward — and which dissipate energy. The diagnostic distinction that determines whether a contradiction should be resolved or maintained.

Architectural dead ends

Recurring structural patterns in B2B product systems where standard tools stop helping. What these situations have in common and what marks them before they become irreversible.

Research configurations

Where infrastructure begins to shape what can be known, not just how work is executed. Cases may come from product systems or from live research environments when the same structural logic is present.

Log

Research log

Published observations from the investigation. Each note follows the same structure: what was seen, why it matters, what follows from it.

Cases

Contextual evidence. Specific situations analysed through the CDSA coordinate system.
Retrospective — public post-mortems, outcome known.   Live — direct participation, anonymised by agreement.

Patterns

Generalisations that emerge when multiple observations and cases point to the same structure. A pattern is a falsifiable claim — not a conclusion.

Pattern 001 In preparation
Surface clustering of design methods

Emerges from Observation 001 + forthcoming case analysis.

More patterns will appear as observations and cases accumulate
02

Open questions

These are not rhetorical questions. They are the actual gaps in the current model.

What lives in the empty zones of the map?

Where exactly does illusion turn into harm?

Which contradictions in product systems are productive rather than destructive?

How can a productive contradiction be maintained over time without collapsing into routine?

What marks a real architectural fork before it becomes irreversible?

Which live cases can falsify or refine the current model?

03

Signals of a relevant case

Not every stuck situation belongs here. These signals suggest your case may be structurally relevant to the current investigation.

The team applies well-known methods correctly — but the system does not move.

Visible progress accumulates, but core outcomes remain unchanged.

New features create additional conflicts instead of resolving the original ones.

The problem appears to sit at the architectural level — but no current method reaches it.

Multiple trade-offs repeat in different forms across the product over time.

The team cannot tell whether the contradiction should be resolved or maintained.

04

Case library

In progress
Observed patterns
Recurring structures

Structural patterns already seen across multiple cases: method-level illusion in B2B product teams, harm produced by process optimisation at the wrong system level, architectural forks disguised as feature decisions.

Working hypotheses
Interpretations under testing

The distinction between productive and dissipative contradictions as a diagnostic category. The role of positional assumptions in creating methodological deadlocks that methods cannot reach.

Missing evidence
What the corpus still lacks

Hardware and regulated-industry cases. Long B2B enterprise cycles. Cases where a productive contradiction was successfully maintained. Non-US geographic coverage.

05

Bring a case

If your team is dealing with a situation that seems structurally stuck, it may already belong to this investigation.

You are not contacting a service. You are entering an investigation.

What to send
Short description of the situation
What methods have already been tried
What keeps repeating
What feels unresolved at a structural level
Whether the case can be discussed openly or anonymously
What to expect
If the case fits the current research focus — a response with next steps
Mapping of the situation against the current model
If the fit holds — a structured conversation
Research dialogue, not a consulting engagement
Contact

Anonymous cases are welcome.
All cases are treated as research material, not business leads.