A Quicklook Maturity Assessment is used to anchor the TRL of a technology already in development based on Decision Point standard practices. The Project Manager may be responding to a request from his Program Manager or from a user or may be implementing Decision Point and needs a starting point.

To determine which Quicklook checklist should be completed, the Project Manager should ask themselves the following questions:

1. Where do I think I am on the Technology Life Cycle?
2. Have I completed all the items on the Quicklook Checklist preceding my estimate?
3. If yes, have I completed any of the items on the Quicklook checklist following my estimate?

Each Quicklook checklist will provide the Project Manager a list of items pertaining to Program Management, Technical Management, Software Development, Algorithm/Model Development, Transition Management, MRL Activity, and Validation Activity. By breaking the checklist items into these categories, the Quicklook checklist can give a clear picture of any performance gaps, giving valuable information to the Project Manager about where their focus should be moving forward.

The Quicklook Checklist has a list of activities to be accomplished under the Description column. Each activity has a column to indicate whether or not the activity has been completed, an “N/A” column to indicate that an activity is not relevant, a “Comments” column which can be used to remind the reader where the responsibility for completing the activity lies, and the “Response” column is used to note the status of the activity and is typically used by the responsible party.

There are three steps to completing a Quicklook checklist after it has been determined which one should be completed.

1. Tailoring the Checklist - Not every item on the checklist will apply to every project, so it’s important that the Project Manager carefully review each activity to determine whether it is planned or required to be accomplished in this phase. This is called Tailoring. Any relevant activities are now exit criteria to successfully achieve the TRL.
2. Evaluating Activity Status – Of the checklist items that remain after tailoring, assess whether each activity has been completed or not. Of those that remain, review your program plan to determine estimated completion. For items of unknown status, check with the responsible party.
3. Validation – Once a checklist has been completed to the Decision Authority’s guidance, move on to the next TRL’s Quicklook Checklist to validate how much progress has been made.

1. TRL Quicklook Checklists
   • TRL 3
   • TRL 4
   • TRL 5
   • TRL 6
2. Example Quicklook Checklist
   • TRL 4
   • TRL 5