The distinction between a request, an action and a verified result belongs in the interface.
Follow the intended effect
Explain what is allowed to happen
Give uncertainty a useful state
Ask what the system can account for
What the note asks us to consider.
A note on making delegated work understandable, bounded and accountable from request through result.
Imagine asking a system to update a customer record. It produces a helpful explanation, queues a request and displays a completion message. The customer record remains unchanged. The conversation has reached an ending, but the work has not.
Before an action, a person should be able to understand what would change. The interface should make the requested action, its scope and the relevant permission clear.
An action may fail, remain pending or produce a result that has not yet been checked. Those states should stay visible until there is evidence of what happened.
A useful evaluation follows a task from its starting information through the proposed action to the resulting state. A completion message should reflect that evidence.
The distinction between a request, an action and a verified result belongs in the interface.
The distinction between a request, an action and a verified result belongs in the interface.
Before an action, a person should be able to understand what would change. The interface should make the requested action, its scope and the relevant permission clear.
Engelbart OSAn action may fail, remain pending or produce a result that has not yet been checked. Those states should stay visible until there is evidence of what happened.
Working Notes
The distinction between a request, an action and a verified result belongs in the interface.
Imagine asking a system to update a customer record. It produces a helpful explanation, queues a request and displays a completion message. The customer record remains unchanged. The conversation has reached an ending, but the work has not.
Before an action, a person should be able to understand what would change. The interface should make the requested action, its scope and the relevant permission clear.
An action may fail, remain pending or produce a result that has not yet been checked. Those states should stay visible until there is evidence of what happened.
A useful evaluation follows a task from its starting information through the proposed action to the resulting state. A completion message should reflect that evidence.
A note on making delegated work understandable, bounded and accountable from request through result.
Imagine asking a system to update a customer record. It produces a helpful explanation, queues a request and displays a completion message. The customer record remains unchanged. The conversation has reached an ending, but the work has not.
Before an action, a person should be able to understand what would change. The interface should make the requested action, its scope and the relevant permission clear.
An action may fail, remain pending or produce a result that has not yet been checked. Those states should stay visible until there is evidence of what happened.
The distinction between a request, an action and a verified result belongs in the interface.
Imagine asking a system to update a customer record. It produces a helpful explanation, queues a request and displays a completion message. The customer record remains unchanged. The conversation has reached an ending, but the work has not.
Before an action, a person should be able to understand what would change. The interface should make the requested action, its scope and the relevant permission clear.
An action may fail, remain pending or produce a result that has not yet been checked. Those states should stay visible until there is evidence of what happened.
A useful evaluation follows a task from its starting information through the proposed action to the resulting state. A completion message should reflect that evidence.
A useful perspective should leave room for evidence, context and a different conclusion.
The distinction between a request, an action and a verified result belongs in the interface.
Imagine asking a system to update a customer record. It produces a helpful explanation, queues a request and displays a completion message. The customer record remains unchanged. The conversation has reached an ending, but the work has not.
Before an action, a person should be able to understand what would change. The interface should make the requested action, its scope and the relevant permission clear.
An action may fail, remain pending or produce a result that has not yet been checked. Those states should stay visible until there is evidence of what happened.
A useful evaluation follows a task from its starting information through the proposed action to the resulting state. A completion message should reflect that evidence.
A note on making delegated work understandable, bounded and accountable from request through result.
The note offers a perspective rather than a measured result.
