User Story: Criticality Parameters Management

1. Problem Statement

This user story addresses the need to define and quantify the consequence of failure for any given asset. The primary user is the Asset Manager, who must understand not just an asset's condition, but also its importance to the overall utility operation in order to properly assess risk.

Primary User Role & Pain Points:

Asset Manager:
- Inability to Differentiate Impact: Treats all asset failures as equal, unable to distinguish between a minor failure (e.g., a pump at a redundant facility) and a catastrophic one (e.g., a main transmission line).
- Misaligned Priorities: Focuses maintenance and capital resources on assets in poor condition, even if their failure would have minimal impact on service, while potentially neglecting assets in good condition whose failure would be devastating.
- Lack of Business Context: Cannot systematically evaluate an asset's importance in terms of its impact on water supply, public health, regulatory compliance, or operational dependency.
- Poor Risk Communication: Struggles to communicate to stakeholders why a specific asset is "critical" without a formal, multi-faceted scoring system to back up the assessment.
- Flawed Risk Assessment: Without a formal Consequence of Failure (CoF) score, any risk calculation (Risk = Probability of Failure x Consequence of Failure) is incomplete and unreliable.

Core Problem:
For the Asset Manager, focusing only on an asset's physical condition is insufficient for true risk management. Without a standardized framework to quantify an asset's criticality, they cannot distinguish between low-impact and high-impact failures. This leads to a misallocation of resources, where efforts may be wasted on low-consequence assets while high-consequence assets remain vulnerable, exposing the utility to significant operational, financial, and regulatory risk.

2. Who Is the User Facing the Problem?

The Asset Manager is the most important user for this feature. Defining "criticality" is a core strategic function that sits at the heart of risk-based asset management. It requires a deep understanding of the entire water system and the business consequences of failure. The Asset Manager uses this framework to create a complete risk profile for every asset, guiding the utility's most important investment and operational decisions.

Access Control:
The Asset Manager and Utility Administrator should have full create, read, update, and delete permissions for Criticality Parameters.

3. Jobs To Be Done

For the Asset Manager: When I need to create a comprehensive, risk-based capital investment plan, but I can only assess an asset's physical condition, not its importance to our operations, help me by providing a tool to define and weight the criteria that determine an asset's criticality, so that I can calculate a true risk score for every asset and prioritize investments that reduce the most significant threats to our service delivery.

4. Solution

The proposed solution is a Criticality Parameters management module, which mirrors the structure of the Condition Parameters feature. It allows the Asset Manager to define the complete set of criteria used to assess an asset's criticality, or its Consequence of Failure. The feature enables the creation of multiple parameters, each with a specific description and a relative weight, ensuring the final criticality score is a comprehensive and accurately weighted reflection of an asset's importance.

Key Capability Areas:

Centralized Parameter Library: A single screen to create, view, edit, and delete all parameters used in criticality assessment.
Weighted Scoring System: A user-friendly slider interface (1-5) to assign a relative weight to each parameter, which the system converts into a percentage.
Total Weightage Validation: A prominent "Total Weightage" display that must sum to 100% for the scoring model to be valid, indicated by a green color.
Inline and Modal-Based Editing: The ability to quickly edit parameters directly from the list view or add new ones via a dedicated modal.
Integrated Search: A search bar to quickly find specific criticality parameters.

5. Major Steps Involved

User Role: Asset Manager

Flow 1: Defining the Criticality Scoring Model

Navigate to Settings -> Critical Parameters.
Review the existing list of parameters: "Impact on Water Supply" (20.0%), "Health and Regulatory Risk" (28.0%), and "Redundancy / Backup Available" (20.0%).
Click the "+ Add New Critical Parameter" button.
In the "Add New Critical Parameter" modal, enter the Parameter Name: "Financial Impact".
Enter a Description: "Assessment of the direct financial costs associated with failure, including repair costs, lost revenue, and potential fines."
Use the Weight Score slider to set a relative weight, for example, 4.
Click "Add Parameter". The new parameter is added to the list.
The system recalculates all percentages. The Asset Manager sees the Total Weightage is now over 100% and displayed in red.
Click the edit icon (pencil) next to "Health and Regulatory Risk". The view expands for inline editing.
Adjust the Weight Score slider for that parameter downwards to balance the model.
Click "Save". The system recalculates all percentages again.
The Asset Manager continues to adjust the weights of all parameters until the "Total Weightage" display shows 100.0% in green. The criticality model is now complete and ready for use.

6. Flow Diagram

Flow: Asset Manager Defines Criticality Model

graph TD

A[User navigates to Critical Parameters] --> B[Reviews existing parameters and Total Weightage];

B --> C{Clicks '+ Add New Critical Parameter'};

C --> D[Enters Name, Description, and sets Weight Score in modal];

D --> E{Saves new parameter};

E --> F[New parameter appears in the list];

F --> G[System recalculates all weightage percentages];

G --> H{Total Weightage is not 100%};

H --> I{Clicks Edit on an existing parameter};

I --> J[Adjusts Weight Score using inline slider];

J --> K{Saves change};

K --> G;

H -- Total Weightage is 100% --> L[Criticality model is finalized and valid];

7. Business Rules

This section provides a detailed breakdown of rules for every visible element on the screen. The rules for this feature are functionally identical to the "Condition Parameters" feature, but applied to the concept of criticality.

A. Critical Parameters (Main View)

B. Add New Critical Parameter (Modal View)

C. Edit Criticality Parameter (Inline Expanded View)

Parameter Name & Description: Become editable text inputs.
Field: "Weight Score: X/5": Slider control to adjust the weight.
Button: "Save": Saves changes and triggers a recalculation of all weights.
Button: "Cancel": Discards changes and collapses the view.

8. Sample Data

Parameter Name	Description	Weight Score (1-5)	Calculated Weightage (%)
Impact on Water Supply	Assessment of how asset failure would affect water supply delivery to customers and service continuity.	4	20.0%
Health and Regulatory Risk	Evaluation of potential health hazards and regulatory compliance risks associated with asset failure.	4	20.0%
Redundancy / Backup Available	Assessment of alternative systems or backup capabilities available if this asset fails.	4	20.0%
Operational Dependency	Evaluation of how critical this asset is to overall system operations and other dependent processes.	4	20.0%
Financial Impact	Assessment of the direct financial costs associated with failure, including repair costs and fines.	4	20.0%
Total		20	100.0%

Note: The sample data is an example of an evenly weighted model. The sum of weight scores is 20. For each parameter, the calculation is (4 / 20) * 100 = 20.0%. The screenshot shows a slightly different, unbalanced model in progress.

9. Acceptance Criteria

The system must allow the Asset Manager to add a new criticality parameter with a unique name, description, and a weight score from 1 to 5.
The system must display all defined criticality parameters in a list.
The system must calculate and display the weightage percentage for each parameter.
The system must calculate and display the "Total Weightage" of all parameters, colored green at 100% and red otherwise.
The system must allow the Asset Manager to edit a parameter's details and weight score.
The system must allow the Asset Manager to delete a parameter after a confirmation prompt.
The system must immediately recalculate all percentages and the total weightage after any parameter is added, edited, or deleted.
The system must only allow the criticality model to be used in assessments if the "Total Weightage" is 100.0%.
The system must allow the user to search for parameters by name.
The system must require the "Parameter Name" field to be filled when adding a new parameter.
The system must ensure the "Weight Score" slider only allows integer values between 1 and 5.
The "Add Parameter" modal must close upon successful submission.
The inline "Save" button must collapse the edit view upon successful submission.
The inline "Cancel" button must discard changes and collapse the edit view.
The system must function independently from the Condition Parameters module.

10. Process Changes

From: (Current Process)	To: (New Process)	Impact Analysis
The concept of "criticality" is informal, undocumented, and based on institutional knowledge ("tribal knowledge").	Criticality is formally defined and quantified through a multi-faceted, weighted scoring system managed centrally.	Justification: This process transforms an abstract concept into a tangible, consistent, and auditable data point. It preserves institutional knowledge and ensures all personnel are working from the same definition of what is critical.
Risk is assessed based only on an asset's condition, leading to a skewed perception of true risk.	Risk is assessed by combining the Condition Score (Probability of Failure) with the Criticality Score (Consequence of Failure), providing a complete and accurate risk profile.	Justification: This aligns the utility with industry best practices (e.g., ISO 55000) and fundamentally changes the decision-making process to be truly risk-based, ensuring resources are spent reducing the most significant threats.
All assets are treated more or less equally in emergency response planning.	Emergency response plans can be prioritized based on the criticality scores of assets, ensuring that the most critical assets receive the fastest response.	Justification: This allows for more effective and efficient emergency response, minimizing the impact of failures on customers and the environment.

11. Impact from Solving This Problem

Metric	How it Improves
:white_check_mark: True Risk-Based Asset Management	This feature provides the "Consequence of Failure" score, the essential counterpart to the "Probability of Failure" (Condition Score). Together, they enable a complete and accurate risk calculation for every asset.
:white_check_mark: Smarter Resource Allocation	Ensures that the most significant resources (both capital and operational) are directed towards mitigating the highest-risk assets, not just the ones in the worst condition. This maximizes the return on investment for every dollar spent.
:white_check_mark: Improved System Resilience	By clearly identifying and focusing on the most critical components of the water system, the Asset Manager can proactively improve the overall resilience of the utility against unexpected failures.
:white_check_mark: Clear Stakeholder Communication	Provides a clear, defensible framework to explain to regulators, board members, and the public why certain projects are being prioritized over others, linking investments directly to the reduction of tangible risks.

12. User Behavior Tracking

Primary User Role: Asset Manager

Metric/Event Name	Event Trigger	Properties Tracked	Question Answered for the Asset Manager
Define Criticality Parameter	Asset Manager creates, edits, or deletes a parameter.	`action` (create/edit/delete), `parameter_name`, `final_weight_score`	Is the Asset Manager actively building the criticality model? Which business drivers (e.g., regulatory, financial) are they prioritizing?
Criticality Model Finalized	The "Total Weightage" becomes 100.0% after a change.	`number_of_parameters`, `parameter_names_and_weights`	What does the final, balanced criticality model look like? What are the key drivers of consequence at our utility?
Search Criticality Parameters	Asset Manager uses the search bar.	`search_term`	Is the list of parameters becoming long? What is the Asset Manager looking for?
Edit vs. Add Criticality	A parameter is created or an existing one is edited.	`action_type` (create/edit)	Is the Asset Manager's primary activity creating a new criticality model or fine-tuning the existing one?