# Method Development

> Design and iterate on new research methods with structured checkpoints, baselines, and validation.

- Skill: `majiayu000/method-development` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add majiayu000/method-development`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/majiayu000/method-development/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Research & Search
- Author: majiayu000 (https://skillmd.com/u/majiayu000)
- Updated: 2026-09-09
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/majiayu000/method-development

---




## STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

### Purpose
- Develop, refine, and validate novel methods anchored to baselines and constraints.
- Apply constraint hygiene and explicit ceilings to prevent premature claims.
- Keep structure-first artifacts current for handoff and reproducibility.

### Trigger Conditions
- **Positive:** creating or adapting algorithms/pipelines; designing ablations; exploring new research ideas.
- **Negative:** pure replication (use `baseline-replication`) or publication packaging (`research-publication`).

### Guardrails
- HARD / SOFT / INFERRED constraint buckets (compute, data, metrics, ethics) with sources.
- Two-pass refinement on designs: structure vs. baselines, then epistemic/risks.
- Require baseline parity before claiming improvements; document variance sources.
- Confidence ceilings enforced per claim.

### Inputs
- Problem statement and success metrics.
- Baselines to beat and constraints (data, compute, deadlines).
- Risk tolerances and evaluation protocols.

### Workflow
1. **Problem Framing**: Capture objectives, constraints, and baselines; confirm INFERRED assumptions.
2. **Design Options**: Propose candidates with expected impact; map to constraints.
3. **Experiment Plan**: Define ablations, datasets, metrics, and stopping rules.
4. **Run & Observe**: Execute experiments, log configs/seeds; compare to baselines.
5. **Validate & Iterate**: Analyze results, run adversarial checks, and refine or stop.
6. **Package**: Summarize findings, risks, and next steps; store artifacts and update references/examples.

### Validation & Quality Gates
- Baseline beat or variance explained; claims tied to evidence with ceilings.
- Ablations cover key hypotheses; failures documented.
- Reproducibility assets stored (configs, logs, seeds).

### Response Template
```
**Objective & Constraints**
- HARD / SOFT / INFERRED.

**Design Candidates**
- Option → rationale → expected impact.

**Experiment Status**
- Runs, metrics vs. baseline, issues.

**Next Steps**
- Iterate, stop, or expand.

Confidence: 0.80 (ceiling: research 0.85) - based on current evidence and validation checks.
```

Confidence: 0.80 (ceiling: research 0.85) - reflects validated comparisons to baselines and logged experiments.