Collection efforts can become unfocused when requirements, information gaps, authorized source types, assignments, deadlines, results, and reporting expectations are not clearly organized.
Disconnected research tasks can consume time without answering the decision need, duplicate effort, leave critical gaps unowned, and mix collected information with analytic judgment.
The planner connects each decision to requirements, gaps, indicators, bounded tasks, source types, owners, due dates, results, provenance, limitations, reporting, and feedback.
A focused and accountable collection plan showing why each task exists, who owns it, what remains missing, what was collected, and how results will be reported.
- Analysts and research teams
- Security professionals
- Authorized investigators
- Students and small teams learning collection discipline
- START HERE guide and Standard License
- Collection Planning Field Guide
- Seven printable forms
- Quick reference
- Completed fictional plan
- Nine-sheet XLSX workbook
- Define the decision, requirement, scope, owner, and answer criteria.
- Identify gaps, indicators, and disconfirming signals.
- Assign lawful, bounded collection tasks.
- Record results, provenance, relevance, limitations, and corroboration.
- Report, receive feedback, and close or refine the requirement.
Does not search sources, access systems, collect information, validate truth, infer relationships, determine confidence, generate conclusions, or authorize access.
License: Standard License for purchaser and internal organizational use. Paid third-party work and redistribution of reusable materials are excluded.