Governing question / What must remain true as GreenSquare changes?
Design Constitution
Structure creates capability
Good decisions begin with a clear objective, a properly framed question, explicit hypotheses and disciplined validation.
Design consequences
- Put objective and decision context before detail.
- Keep the governing question visible.
- Use hierarchy, alignment and sequence before containers.
Pass / fail test
Does the design make the work easier to understand and perform?
Worked
The decision field keeps the FY27 question fixed while evidence attaches to the claim it supports.
Rejected
A dashboard of activity metrics with no visible relationship to the decision.
Move from reactive to deliberate
Every experience should reduce uncertainty and reveal a path forward.
Design consequences
- Represent progress as improved decision quality.
- Show what changed and what happens next.
- Do not trap people in open-ended exploration.
Pass / fail test
Does the user feel more capable after interacting with this?
Worked
A stress test names the threshold that reopens the recommendation and assigns the evidence action.
Rejected
An empty prompt field asking the user what they want to explore next.
Make judgement defensible
Criteria, evidence, assumptions and trade-offs must be inspectable beside the recommendation.
Design consequences
- Separate fact, assumption, interpretation and unknown.
- Show criteria before recommendations.
- Name what would change the call.
Pass / fail test
Could another informed person inspect, challenge and understand the recommendation?
Worked
The option comparison shows that lower cost is being accepted in exchange for less direct control.
Rejected
A confident recommendation with evidence hidden in a later appendix.
Hold the practitioner's standard
The system should withstand a consequential working session, not merely look complete.
Design consequences
- Use realistic artefacts, constraints and trade-offs.
- Prefer specific language to broad claims.
- Never look more confident than the evidence allows.
Pass / fail test
Would an experienced operator trust this in a consequential working session?
Worked
The recommendation remains conditional until partner ramp and churn evidence are validated.
Rejected
A polished maturity score based on invented data.
Remove what does not improve judgement
Every sentence and visual element must reduce decision time or improve the call.
Design consequences
- One governing idea per view.
- Use containers only for state, relationship, ownership or boundary.
- Disclose supporting detail progressively.
Pass / fail test
Would removing this element reduce the user's ability to decide?
Worked
Evidence IDs appear only where provenance matters; the source detail opens on request.
Rejected
A subtitle beneath every heading that repeats the visible label.