Does this problem need
a knowledge graph?
Eight questions to test whether relationships, evidence, and real user decisions justify a scoped build.
CHECKLIST
Progress: 0/8
Answer for the first bounded use case.
Do not answer for a future enterprise platform. Answer for the smallest first version your team could actually evaluate.
YES = 2 · NOT SURE = 1 · NOT YET = 0 · MAX 16
"Not yet" is not a failure or a rejection; it marks a condition worth preparing before the build, or during a short scoping. The score does not measure technology quality or organizational maturity - it measures whether the conditions exist to bound a first version sensibly and evaluate it.
- 01
Is there a specific user and decision the first version should support?
Name who will use the result, what they need to decide, and what a better answer would change.
- 02
Does the answer depend on relationships between entities?
A graph may help when paths, dependencies, shared exposure, hierarchy, or multi-hop context changes the answer.
- 03
Are useful data sources available - and can their records be connected?
Check whether the sources contain identifiers, names, dates, versions, or other defensible connection points.
- 04
Can the first model be limited to a few important relationships?
The first version should model only what is needed to answer its first test questions - not the entire domain.
- 05
Must answers remain traceable despite gaps, conflicts, or changing facts?
Decide whether users need to inspect the source, date, status, uncertainty, or reasoning path behind an answer.
- 06
Can you define 5-10 questions the first version must answer?
Concrete questions keep modeling, ingestion, queries, and evaluation tied to a bounded outcome.
- 07
Can a domain user evaluate whether the answers are useful and correct?
Identify who will test the result and what correct, complete, useful, and traceable mean.
- 08
Is there a clear decision to stop, change, or scale after the first version?
A useful first version can recommend expansion, a narrower approach, a simpler technology, or no graph at all.
RESULT
Readiness is a scoping question - not a technology score.
The checklist is designed to expose missing decisions and evidence. A low score can save a team from building the wrong thing; a high score still needs a bounded scope.
Answer all 8 questions for a useful interpretation. (0/8)
FIT
A graph may make sense when…
- Several sources describe connected parts of the same problem.
- Relationships, paths, dependencies, or shared exposure affect the answer.
- Users need to trace an answer back to evidence.
- A limited model can be tested against concrete questions.
A simpler approach may be better when…
- The task is mainly finding a passage in one clean document set.
- The necessary records cannot be connected reliably.
- No user, decision, or evaluation questions have been defined.
- A relational database, search index, or conventional RAG already answers the question well.
CONTACT
Tell me about your project.
Share the decision, available sources, and the question the system should answer. You will get a direct assessment of what is worth building - and what is not.