A project manager joins a team that is providing a customized enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to a client. A potential design problem is identified by the development team. After reviewing t

While a change request will eventually be needed for the approved design, it is premature to make one before ensuring the revised design itself is sound and effective.

Informing the client and following the change request process is necessary, but validating the revised design first ensures the proposed solution is robust before presenting it.

Conducting a proof of concept (PoC) for the revised design is essential to validate that the changes effectively resolve the identified potential problem without introducing new defects or unforeseen issues. Since the original design was already approved and this is a significant revision, validating the new approach minimizes risk before proceeding with full implementation and formal change processes.

Amending specifications and passing them to development without validating the revised design increases the risk of building an unproven solution that might still have defects.