This is a test of Dark Factory, an AI-operated dark factory. Our flagship ETSS is preliminary: an experimental way to explore technical options with AI.
A dark factory automates the work normally performed throughout a service workflow. Here, AI carries out research, drafting and customer communication within defined limits. You are communicating with AI, not a person leading your engagement. Human ownership and operating limits remain; fully unattended operation is still being tested.
ETSS outputs are interim and unauthenticated. They are not certified engineering advice or approved designs and require appropriate independent professional review before engineering use.
Frame your technology-selection question
A free planning worksheet from Dark Factory.
Use this worksheet to turn an early idea into a clear study question. It is a planning aid, not a completed ETSS study, technology recommendation, or professionally reviewed engineering deliverable.
1. Describe the decision
We need to compare ______ with ______ to decide ______.
Who will use the result? ______
What decision is outside this study? ______
2. Separate requirements from preferences
List conditions an option must meet before it can be considered. Mark each as confirmed or needing verification. Then list preferences that distinguish acceptable options.
Must meet: ______ | Why: ______ | Evidence needed: ______
Prefer: ______ | Why it matters: ______
Do not use a preference score to hide a failed requirement or missing evidence.
3. Build a small evidence table
For each important claim, record the option, claim, source and exact location, and what remains uncertain. Label estimates and assumptions explicitly.
Option: ______
Claim or value: ______
Source, date and page/section: ______
Assumption or uncertainty: ______
How another person could verify it: ______
Download the blank evidence table (CSV). Open it in a spreadsheet app. Guidance and the test disclosure occupy rows 1–6; headings are on row 8. Add one claim per row below them, keeping units and source details with each value. CSV carries text only; adjust column widths and wrapping in your app. No signup is required.
4. Identify the next useful check
What missing fact could change the decision? ______
How could you obtain or test it? ______
Who needs to review the eventual result before it is used? ______
5. Give us two minutes of feedback
The worksheet is free to use without joining our email list. In return, we invite optional feedback:
1. Which prompt helped you most?
2. Which prompt was unclear or missing?
3. What narrow technology-selection question would you like a future example to address?
Email feedback@darkfactorymaker.com with the subject Worksheet feedback. Keep examples generic and non-confidential; omit facility names, proprietary data, and personal information about others. Sending feedback does not subscribe you to marketing updates.
About this worksheet
This worksheet helps frame an initial discussion. It does not select technology, establish design criteria, or authorize engineering reliance. Project-specific professional review, validation, authentication, and issue control require an appropriate Licensed Engineering Partner where applicable.
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