Project Feasibility Analysis

Overview

Feasibility analysis is a systematic process for evaluating whether a proposed software project is viable and worth pursuing. Assess technical feasibility, resource requirements, market viability, risk factors, and implementation challenges. Apply this skill to make informed go/no-go decisions before committing resources.

When to Use This Skill

This skill should be used when:

• Evaluating new project proposals for viability
• Assessing technical feasibility of proposed features
• Analyzing resource requirements and constraints
• Conducting market viability assessments
• Identifying potential blockers and deal-breakers
• Comparing multiple project options
• Preparing feasibility reports for stakeholders

Visual Enhancement with Project Diagrams

When creating feasibility documents, consider adding diagrams for clarity.

Use the project-diagrams skill to generate:

• Feasibility decision trees
• Risk assessment matrices
• Resource requirement diagrams
• Technical architecture feasibility maps
• Market positioning charts

python .claude/skills/project-diagrams/scripts/generate_schematic.py "diagram description" -o diagrams/output.png

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Feasibility Analysis Framework

Conduct feasibility analysis systematically through multiple dimensions.

1. Technical Feasibility

Evaluate whether the project can be built with available technology and expertise.

Technology Readiness Assessment

Readiness Level	Description	Risk
Mature	Production-proven, widely used	Low
Established	Production-ready, growing adoption	Low-Medium
Emerging	Early adoption, limited production use	Medium
Experimental	Pre-production, research phase	High
Theoretical	Conceptual, not yet implemented	Very High

For each core technology, assess:

• Current maturity level
• Community and vendor support
• Documentation quality
• Talent availability in market
• Long-term viability

Technical Complexity Assessment

Complexity Factors:

Factor	Low	Medium	High
Integration points	1-3	4-7	8+
Data sources	1-2	3-5	6+
Custom algorithms	None	Some	Significant
Real-time requirements	None	Partial	Critical
Scale requirements	<1K users	1K-100K	>100K
Security requirements	Basic	Standard	Stringent
Compliance requirements	None	Industry	Regulatory

Complexity Score: Sum factors and categorize:

• 0-7: Low complexity (straightforward implementation)
• 8-14: Medium complexity (manageable with expertise)
• 15-21: High complexity (significant challenges expected)
• 22+: Very high complexity (consider scope reduction)

Technical Risk Factors

Identify and rate (1-5) these risks:

• Unproven architecture: Novel patterns without precedent
• Integration complexity: Many external system dependencies
• Performance uncertainty: Unclear if requirements are achievable
• Scalability concerns: Uncertainty about growth handling
• Security challenges: Complex threat model or compliance needs
• Data complexity: Large, unstructured, or sensitive data
• Algorithm novelty: Custom ML/AI or complex logic required

Risk Mitigation Questions:

• Have similar systems been built successfully?
• Are there proven patterns we can follow?
• Can we prototype high-risk components early?
• What are fallback options if primary approach fails?

2. Resource Feasibility

Evaluate whether required resources (people, time, money) are available.

Team Capability Assessment

Required Skills Inventory:

Skill Area	Required Level	Current Level	Gap
Frontend development
Backend development
DevOps/Infrastructure
Database/Data engineering
Security
Domain expertise
Project management

Levels: None, Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert

Gap Analysis:

• Critical gaps (show-stoppers)
• Important gaps (require hiring/training)
• Minor gaps (manageable with learning)

Timeline Feasibility

Timeline Estimation Factors:

Factor	Multiplier
Clear requirements	1.0x
Partially defined requirements	1.3x
Evolving requirements	1.5x
Experienced team with stack	1.0x
Team learning new technologies	1.3x
Team new to domain	1.5x
Greenfield project	1.0x
Legacy integration	1.3x
Legacy replacement	1.5x

Timeline Reality Check:

• Apply multipliers to initial estimates
• Add 20-30% buffer for unknowns
• Compare to similar past projects
• Identify hard deadlines and assess achievability

Budget Feasibility

Cost Categories to Estimate:

cost_categories:
  development:
    - Personnel (internal team)
    - Contractors/consultants
    - Training and upskilling
  infrastructure:
    - Cloud services (compute, storage, networking)
    - Development environments
    - CI/CD tooling
  third_party:
    - SaaS subscriptions
    - API costs
    - Licensing fees
  operational:
    - Monitoring and observability
    - Support tooling
    - Security tools
  contingency:
    - Risk buffer (15-25%)
    - Scope buffer (10-20%)

Budget Viability Assessment:

• Total estimated cost vs. available budget
• Cash flow timing requirements
• Hidden costs identification
• Cost overrun scenarios

3. Market Feasibility

Evaluate whether the project addresses a real market need.

Market Need Assessment

Key Questions:

• Is there demonstrated demand for this solution?
• What problem does it solve, and how painful is that problem?
• Who are the target users, and can we reach them?
• What is the market size (TAM, SAM, SOM)?
• Is the market growing, stable, or declining?

Competitive Landscape Analysis

Competitor Assessment Matrix:

Competitor	Strengths	Weaknesses	Our Differentiation

Competitive Position Questions:

• Who are the main competitors?
• What is our unique value proposition?
• Can we compete on features, price, or experience?
• Are there barriers to entry?
• Is there room for another player?

Market Timing Assessment

Timing	Description	Implication
Too early	Market not ready, user education needed	High risk, long runway required
Early	Market emerging, first-mover advantage possible	Medium risk, faster execution helps
Right time	Market established, clear demand	Lower risk, differentiation critical
Late	Market saturated, incumbents entrenched	High risk, disruption required

4. Operational Feasibility

Evaluate whether the project can be successfully deployed and operated.

Organizational Readiness

Assess the organization's ability to:

• Adopt new technology and processes
• Support the solution post-launch
• Handle change management requirements
• Maintain the solution long-term

Operational Requirements

Key Operational Factors:

Factor	Requirement	Current Capability	Gap
24/7 operations
Incident response
User support
Data backup/recovery
Security monitoring
Performance monitoring
Compliance reporting

Integration Feasibility

For each required integration:

System	Integration Type	Complexity	Risk
	API / File / DB / Event	Low/Med/High

Integration Risk Factors:

• API stability and documentation quality
• Authentication/authorization complexity
• Data format compatibility
• Rate limits and quotas
• Vendor reliability and support

5. Legal and Compliance Feasibility

Evaluate regulatory, legal, and compliance requirements.

Regulatory Requirements

Common Compliance Frameworks:

Framework	Applicability	Effort
GDPR	EU personal data	High
HIPAA	US healthcare data	Very High
SOC 2	B2B SaaS	Medium-High
PCI-DSS	Payment card data	High
CCPA	California consumer data	Medium

Compliance Assessment:

• Which regulations apply?
• What controls are required?
• What certifications are needed?
• What is the timeline and cost for compliance?

Intellectual Property Considerations

• Are there patent concerns?
• Are there licensing restrictions on dependencies?
• Do we have rights to required data?
• Are there trademark considerations?

Feasibility Scoring

Overall Feasibility Score

Rate each dimension (1-5):

Dimension	Score	Weight	Weighted Score
Technical Feasibility		25%
Resource Feasibility		25%
Market Feasibility		20%
Operational Feasibility		15%
Legal/Compliance Feasibility		15%
Total		100%

Score Interpretation:

Total Score	Recommendation
4.0-5.0	Strong Go - Proceed with confidence
3.0-3.9	Conditional Go - Proceed with mitigations
2.0-2.9	Caution - Address significant concerns first
1.0-1.9	No Go - Major barriers, reconsider or pivot

Go/No-Go Decision Criteria

Automatic No-Go Triggers:

• Critical technology not available or unproven
• Required skills unavailable and unhirable
• Budget shortfall >50%
• Timeline impossible for hard deadline
• Regulatory showstopper
• Market doesn't exist

Conditional Go Requirements:

• All critical risks have mitigation plans
• Resource gaps have remediation paths
• Timeline achievable with buffer
• Budget within 20% of estimate
• Clear path to market

Feasibility Report Structure

Executive Summary

• Project overview (2-3 sentences)
• Overall feasibility score and recommendation
• Key strengths (2-3 bullets)
• Critical concerns (2-3 bullets)
• Go/No-Go recommendation with conditions

Detailed Analysis

For each feasibility dimension:

1. Score and rationale
2. Key findings
3. Risks identified
4. Recommendations

Risk Register

Risk	Category	Likelihood	Impact	Score	Mitigation

Recommendations

If Go:

• Required actions before starting
• Risk mitigations to implement
• Key success factors
• Monitoring metrics

If No-Go:

• Primary blockers
• What would need to change
• Alternative approaches to consider
• Potential pivot options

Appendices

• Detailed cost estimates
• Technology assessment details
• Competitive analysis data
• Compliance requirements checklist

Decision Framework Templates

Technical Feasibility Decision Tree

Is core technology production-ready?
├── No → Can we use proven alternatives?
│        ├── No → HIGH RISK / Consider No-Go
│        └── Yes → Evaluate alternatives
└── Yes → Do we have required expertise?
          ├── No → Can we hire/train in time?
          │        ├── No → MEDIUM-HIGH RISK
          │        └── Yes → Add to resource plan
          └── Yes → Are there integration risks?
                    ├── Yes → Prototype integrations early
                    └── No → LOW TECHNICAL RISK

Resource Feasibility Decision Tree

Is budget sufficient for scope?
├── No → Can scope be reduced?
│        ├── No → No-Go or find additional funding
│        └── Yes → Reprioritize features
└── Yes → Is team available?
          ├── No → Can we hire in time?
          │        ├── No → Extend timeline or reduce scope
          │        └── Yes → Add hiring to plan
          └── Yes → Is timeline realistic?
                    ├── No → Negotiate deadline or reduce scope
                    └── Yes → RESOURCE FEASIBLE

Best Practices

Do's

• Use real data and research, not assumptions
• Involve stakeholders in assessment
• Document all assumptions
• Consider multiple scenarios (optimistic, realistic, pessimistic)
• Update feasibility as new information emerges
• Be honest about uncertainties

Don'ts

• Don't let confirmation bias drive conclusions
• Don't ignore red flags or inconvenient findings
• Don't rely on single points of failure
• Don't assume best-case scenarios
• Don't skip dimensions because they seem "obvious"
• Don't conflate feasibility with desirability

Final Checklist

Before completing feasibility analysis:

• All five feasibility dimensions assessed
• Scores justified with evidence
• Critical risks identified
• Go/No-Go criteria applied
• Recommendations are actionable
• Assumptions documented
• Stakeholder input gathered
• Report reviewed for completeness