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Card Template

Every card on the board must satisfy this checklist before it leaves Backlog for Ready. Enforce at intake — a card that ships without acceptance criteria will rot in In Progress forever.

See 12_tools_and_tracking.md for the board model, tag scheme, and views.

Required Fields

Field Rule
Title Verb-first, specific. "Machine 2 intake side plates" not "intake stuff".
Owner Exactly one student. Not "Subteam 2". Not two names. Not "TBD".
Subteam tag Exactly one: subteam:drivetrain / subteam:mechanism / subteam:software / subteam:electrical / subteam:strategy-scouting / subteam:business.
Type tag At least one: type:cad / type:fab / type:assembly / type:wiring / type:code / type:test / type:driver-practice / type:purchase / type:doc.
Acceptance criteria One sentence. Testable. Objective.
Estimate S (½ session) / M (1 session) / L (2 sessions) / XL (3+ sessions — split it).
Links CAD file, PR, part number, drawing, ECR — whatever applies. If nothing applies, say so explicitly.

Cross-cutter tags (apply as needed): subsystem:<name>, priority:P1|P2|P3, gate:G1…G7, rookie-owned, safety-critical, needs-order, blocked:part|decision|other-card.

Card Body — Copy/Paste Template

### Acceptance criteria
<One sentence. Testable. "All four bumper mounts torque to 15 ft-lb with no deflection.">

### Context / why
<Two lines max. What upstream card, gate, or decision made this necessary.>

### Dependencies
- <cards, parts, or decisions this waits on. If none, write "none".>

### Links
- CAD: <path or URL>
- PR: <#>
- Part #: <>
- Drawing: <>
- ECR: <>

### Notes
<Anything the next person picking this up needs to know. Empty is fine.>

Acceptance Criteria — Good vs Bad

Bad Good
Finish bumpers All four bumper mounts torque to 15 ft-lb; bumper swaps in under 30 s.
Intake works Intake picks up 10/10 game pieces from floor at driver speeds, no jams.
Auto is done 3-piece auto scores 3/5 attempts in sim; deployed to main.
Fix the wiring PDH re-lugged per drawing; battery voltage reads within 0.1 V of shore.
CAD the shooter Shooter CAD locked, part release signed, drawings issued, BOM lines added.

If the criterion can be argued about at end-of-session, it is not testable. Rewrite it.

Splitting Rules

Split a card when:

  • Estimate is XL.
  • Two different students would do meaningfully different work.
  • Two different subteams would touch it (one card per subteam, linked).
  • Half of it can ship without the other half.

Parent card stays open in In Progress or Blocked:other-card until children are Done.

Anti-Patterns

  • "TBD" owner. No card enters Ready without a real name.
  • Acceptance criteria that mean "when it feels done". Rewrite objectively.
  • Multiple subteam tags. Split the card, one per subteam, link them.
  • safety-critical without a named mentor reviewer. Add the reviewer before starting work, not after.
  • Card is really a project. If the acceptance criteria list is longer than 3 bullets, this is a parent. Open children.
  • Silent updates. State changes without comments. Every column move gets a one-line reason in the card.

Lifecycle Checklist

  • Backlog → Ready: all required fields filled, parts on hand or not needed, dependencies resolved.
  • Ready → In Progress: student takes ownership, sets WIP.
  • In Progress → Blocked: reason posted in card comment, blocked:* tag applied.
  • In Progress → In Review: acceptance criteria met; reviewer named.
  • In Review → Done: reviewer signs off; if safety-critical, mentor signs off; if gate:*, gate artifact updated.
  • Done: linked from build blog post the night it closed.

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