---
title: The Triton method
summary: Dev-led, triple-track. Development ships first, UI design iterates on what's built, and research evaluates what shipped.
type: concept
order: 5
loop_stage: all
domains: [people, technology]
status: draft
version: 0.1
updated: 2026-10-25
sources: [Agile+UX flow (2009, adapted from D. Sy & L. Miller, Autodesk), three-track diagram (2012), Triton notes (2026-03-16), PayPaw repo (2026)]
confidence: stated
related: [the-loops, cost-of-contact]
---

The Triton is the AI-era turn of the same idea. It extends Desirée Sy's dual-track agile from Autodesk (2007), which put design a sprint ahead of development. It keeps design research and design as two separate tracks, called tines, and adds development as the third. Drawn out, it looks like a trident.

## The three tines

1. **Development leads.** It ships first and produces the artifact.
2. **UI design** iterates on what was built.
3. **Research** evaluates what was designed and built, and feeds findings back.

## What's different

- **The flow is reversed.** Most triple-track models run research, then design, then development. Here development starts each cycle, because with AI the build is often the cheapest way to make something to react to.
- **Research is evaluative.** It works on a shipped product, not only before building.
- **Design and research are separate tines.**
- **It fits startup reality.** One person can fill several roles.

The 2012 DRF diagram already had three tracks, with a discovery track that validated the previous sprint's release. What changed in 2026 is which track goes first.

## In practice

The Triton was the working method on PayPaw from March 2026. It changed shape three times: first three rails split between a person and two AI agents, then six generator-and-evaluator loops, and by June one person and one agent, with research folded into the build loop as an evaluator.

## Open questions

- Is the Triton a replacement for the discovery-led loops, or one mode of the DRF? Generative research still matters when there's nothing to ship yet. PayPaw's history leans toward "one mode".
- Name: "Triton" collides with NVIDIA's inference server. Say "the Triton method".