LONDON · 6 JUL 2026 — design shotgun · #/bi command desk · conversational query intake (prd-conversational-intake)

Query intake — five directions

BI queries fail at intake: the system silently picks one reading of an ambiguous question. The PRD adds a mic, an LLM-free ambiguity gate, a budgeted interpreter returning ≤2 tap-answer questions (each option carrying an assumption_text), and a pre-run Assumed: brief that rides the run — no confirm click, one-gesture dismiss, Adjust › reopens the chips. Every variant is seeded with the five real weekend incidents (earned-vs-revenue, Nico's-affiliates possessive + event-vs-cohort, first-activation, settlement) plus the mandatory unchanged fast path. All controls work; toggle each variant's theme in its own top bar.

Every variant includes

  • the 5 incident scenarios + fast path (S5 = today's desk, pixel-unchanged)
  • tap an option → brief recomposes live
  • ride-the-run brief (no confirm click) with ✕ dismiss + Adjust ›
  • Run gated while interpreter questions are open
  • mic "Speak it" → recording tick → [voice] transcript sim
  • assumption_text sub-labels on every option
  • both CT Ledger themes
  • curriculum entry provenance footnotes

Axis 1 · where questions live

v1 in the existing stepper · v2 as editorial lines under the field · v3 inside one docket card · v4 in a side rail · v5 as popovers off the brief chips themselves.

Axis 2 · the "Assumed:" brief

v1/v2 typographic dateline (mono, rhymes with the post-run BIC-011 line) · v3 a card that compresses to a stamp · v4 a rail footer verdict · v5 the brief is a chip row.

Axis 3 · desk mutation

v4 mutates the desk least (one status tag) · v1 not at all beyond the scaffold it extends · v5 adds one row · v3 adds one card · v2 adds only type.

v1.1 · iterationcurrent

The Third Step Source — 7 rulings applied

Stevan picked v1 and annotated 7 changes. Five applied verbatim; the two design judgments ship as live A/B toggles in the chrome — flip them and the desk re-renders.

  • 1Keyboard hints (Space pick / Enter next / Tab steps) show only while the clarify panel is open — hidden when collapsed.
  • 2Removed the 2px accent border-top from .step-panel — side colour carried by badge + stepper underline alone.
  • 3Removed the "Question ready moves focus to Run…" helper line — focus behaviour is self-evident, not narrated.
  • 4Removed the "Your question" label and the "Edit" link above the composer.
  • 5Removed the "Transcribed · voice always fires the interpreter." disclaimer — the [voice] transcript state suffices.
  • 6A/B — skip semantics. Old "✕ ignore 1/1" read per-question but cancelled everything. A: per-question ✕ skips only that question, brief notes the unanswered assumption, gate respects skips. B: no affordance — Run never gated, open readings shown as a plain-reading note. Recommend A.
  • 7A/B — where "Assumed:" lives. The floating line looked orphaned. A: folded into the clarify panel as its settled footer; the panel collapses to the Assumed stamp (v3 idea). B: v5-graft — clauses as compact ✓ chips docked inside the composer's top edge. Recommend A.
Open v1.1 →
v1 · thirdsteppicked — iterated as v1.1 above

The Third Step Source

PRD-literal: interpreter questions are just more clarify steps — merged into the existing connected stepper with a dashed "?" pip and a READING badge; the brief is a quiet mono dateline above "Your question". Zero new concepts to learn.

Open variant →
v2 · dateline

The Typographic Dateline

Intake is typography, not cards: questions set as READING · lines with inline chips beneath the field; the brief is a broadsheet ASSUMED — dateline with load-bearing words in --data. Lightest possible chrome.

Open variant →
v3 · docket

The Reading Docket

One consolidated pre-run card — brief clauses as analyst notes, questions inline as chips, provenance + engine stamp in the footer — that compresses to a single Assumed stamp once settled. Strongest trust surface.

Open variant →
v4 · margin

The Margin Rail

The interpreter annotates from a 360px Evidence-Dock rail; the composer keeps today's exact geometry and gains only a "◆ 1 reading to confirm" status tag. Zero composer crowding, most room for assumption_text.

Open variant →
v5 · chips

Annotated Assumption Chips

The brief IS a chip row under the ask field: resolved clauses are ✓ accent chips, open questions are dashed amber ? chips; tap any chip to flip its reading in an anchored popover. The gate and the brief become one object.

Open variant →