OBJECTIVE: Test whether a fictional report distinguishes a change in counting from a change in the underlying queue. Use paper fixtures or an authorized isolated test environment. Do not alter live reporting definitions or use real traveler records.
1. Hold the Situation Still
Create six synthetic travelers. Four belong to group A; the other two travel separately as B and C. Nobody arrives or leaves during the exercise.
Under definition v1, count individual travelers: six. Under definition v2, count one assistance ticket per group or solo traveler: three. These fixtures define the exercise only; they do not prescribe a real service’s grouping rules.
2. Inspect the Comparison
Switch the report from v1 to v2 without changing the queue. A display claiming that the number of travelers fell from six to three fails the test. The ticket count is three; the traveler count remains six.
Check the headline, chart axis, tooltip and exported column heading. Look for a percentage reduction that survives after the visible label is corrected. The comparison must identify that its unit changed.
3. Introduce an Unknown Group Size
Create a separate historical fixture in which ticket A exists but its group size was never recorded. Keep B and C as known solo travelers. The ticket count is still three; the exact traveler count is not established by this fixture.
Do not copy A’s size from the earlier test into the historical record. Require the report to retain that uncertainty and explain why an exact back-calculation is unavailable.
4. Check the Definition Record
Give v2 an effective date, a responsible role and a reason for the change. Ask another reviewer to interpret an old export and a new one using only their labels and accompanying definition records.
Completion criterion: the unchanged queue does not acquire a fictional improvement; people and tickets remain distinct; and the historical gap stays visible. A reader can identify which definition produced each value.
Read Definition Before Comparison and the fictional Number That Changed Its Name for context.