# PlotDirector Story Intelligence Experience

**Version:** Draft 2\
**Status:** Phase 21 Design Vision\
**Priority:** High

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# Purpose

Replace the traditional Story Intelligence progress page with a living
visual experience that allows authors to watch PlotDirector build an
understanding of their manuscript.

This is **not** simply a better progress bar.

It is intended to become one of PlotDirector's defining features, giving
authors confidence that the AI genuinely understands their story while
analysis is taking place.

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# Design Philosophy

## Story before structure

The Story Intelligence Experience is **not** intended to display a
complete technical graph of every entity in the manuscript.

Its purpose is to visualise PlotDirector's current understanding of the
story in a way that feels alive, engaging and emotionally recognisable.

The screen should always answer:

> **"What story is PlotDirector understanding right now?"**

rather than:

> **"What data currently exists?"**

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## Narrative focus

The display should behave like a camera following the narrative.

As each scene completes, the visual emphasis naturally shifts towards
the people, places, objects and relationships that matter in that part
of the story.

Everything should not receive equal importance.

The visualisation should constantly rebalance around the current
narrative focus.

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## Current understanding only

The visualisation always represents PlotDirector's **best current
understanding**.

It is **not** intended to preserve historical graph states.

As new scenes are analysed, discoveries simply update the current
picture.

When Story Intelligence completes and the author approves the imported
data, the visualisation naturally transitions to using canonical
PlotDirector data.

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## Demonstrate understanding, not AI

The purpose of the experience is not to impress users with AI
processing.

It is to demonstrate understanding.

The author should finish watching believing:

> PlotDirector genuinely understands my novel.

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# Overall User Flow

Welcome

↓

Project

↓

Book

↓

Word Companion

↓

Scan manuscript

↓

Review detected chapters

↓

Start Story Intelligence

At this point the wizard ends.

The user chooses one of two experiences.

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# Experience One -- Continue in Background

Ideal for users who simply wish to import.

Analysis continues entirely server-side.

Closing Word or the browser never interrupts analysis.

Completion provides:

-   Email notification
-   In-app notification
-   Resume from the Projects page
-   Review Imported Scenes

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# Experience Two -- Watch Story Intelligence

A dedicated full-screen experience.

Minimal chrome.

No wizard.

No forms.

No distractions.

Think:

-   Mission Control
-   A modern strategy game
-   Apple-quality animation
-   Calm, cinematic motion

This is the visual representation of PlotDirector reading and
understanding the author's story.

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# Screen Layout

## Header

-   PlotDirector
-   Story Intelligence
-   Current Project
-   Current Book
-   Analysis Stage
-   Continue in Background

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## Left Panel

Administrative information.

Contains:

-   Overall progress
-   Percentage complete
-   Estimated remaining time
-   Chapters analysed
-   Scenes analysed
-   Current stage
-   Latest discoveries
-   Live activity feed

This area should feel informative rather than technical.

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## Centre

The Living Story View.

This is the heart of the experience.

It should not attempt to display the whole book equally.

Instead it presents the current centre of gravity of the narrative.

The display should naturally revolve around:

-   Current POV character
-   Important scene characters
-   Active location
-   Story-significant assets
-   Current relationships
-   Active knowledge threads

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## Bottom Centre

Recent scenes.

The current scene occupies the centre.

As scenes complete they gently move left.

New scenes appear on the right.

This should feel like the story is progressing rather than a queue being
processed.

Beneath this is the timeline, gradually filling with dates and important
events.

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## Right Panel

Higher-level understanding.

Contains:

-   Recent relationship discoveries
-   Knowledge threads
-   Story observations
-   Interesting narrative insights

These should feel insightful rather than diagnostic.

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# Living Story View

The visualisation should feel like a camera following the story.

Characters, locations and assets should dominate the display using
imagery rather than abstract icons.

The scene currently being analysed determines the focus.

As new discoveries occur:

-   Characters appear.
-   Locations appear.
-   Assets appear.
-   Relationships grow.
-   Knowledge threads emerge.
-   Timeline events appear.

The graph gently reorganises itself.

Nothing should feel abrupt.

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# Visual Hierarchy

Priority should naturally be:

1.  POV character
2.  Main characters in the current scene
3.  Current location
4.  Important story assets
5.  Active relationships
6.  Knowledge threads
7.  Less significant supporting entities

Minor characters may remain visible but should naturally appear smaller
and less prominent.

The display should never become visually cluttered.

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# Imagery First

Portraits, locations and assets are fundamental to the emotional impact
of the experience.

Generic illustrated portraits and representative imagery are entirely
acceptable during Story Intelligence.

The author may later replace them with custom images.

The visualisation should avoid reducing important entities to anonymous
circles wherever imagery is available.

People connect emotionally with faces, places and objects.

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# Character Portraits

Initially use a curated built-in library.

Approximately 300--500 illustrations.

Categorised by:

-   Age
-   Gender
-   Hair colour
-   General appearance

These are visual identifiers, not canonical artwork.

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# Location Images

Representative imagery chosen from a curated library.

Examples:

-   Detached house
-   Victorian home
-   Farm
-   School
-   Church
-   Canal
-   Flat
-   Police station

The purpose is recognition rather than perfect accuracy.

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# Asset Images

Representative images for common story assets.

Examples:

-   Car
-   Letter
-   Passport
-   Suitcase
-   Notebook
-   Jewellery
-   Backpack
-   Weapon

Again, these are visual identifiers only.

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# Live Discovery Feed

Examples:

-   Character discovered
-   Location discovered
-   Asset discovered
-   Relationship detected
-   Timeline event identified
-   Knowledge thread opened

Older discoveries gently fade as new discoveries arrive.

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# Story Observations

These should feel intelligent.

Examples:

-   Rosie has become central to the story.
-   Beth now appears in seven scenes.
-   Several names may refer to the same person.
-   A mystery thread has emerged.

Avoid technical language.

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# Current Scene

Display:

-   Scene number
-   Scene title (if available)
-   Brief summary
-   Current progress

When a scene completes it joins the timeline.

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# Timeline

A growing ribbon across the bottom.

Scenes move naturally from right to left.

Dates and events accumulate.

Later this same component becomes PlotDirector's permanent timeline.

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# Animation Philosophy

Every animation should communicate meaning.

Examples:

-   Character appears → newly discovered.
-   Relationship line grows → connection identified.
-   Character grows → increased narrative importance.
-   Timeline moves → scene completed.
-   Knowledge thread appears → mystery recognised.

Avoid decorative animation.

Every movement should reinforce understanding.

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# Current-State Model

The visualisation always displays the current accumulated understanding.

There is no requirement to replay previous graph states.

If understanding changes, the visualisation simply updates.

The browser always shows the latest truth.

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# Technology Direction

Current preferred architecture:

-   ASP.NET Core
-   SQL Server
-   SignalR
-   Existing Story Intelligence results
-   Interactive graph renderer
-   HTML/CSS dashboard
-   Smooth animation

The renderer itself is an implementation detail.

The user experience described in this document is the priority.

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# Completion

When Story Intelligence completes:

Story Intelligence Complete

Your manuscript is ready for review.

Buttons:

-   Review Imported Scenes
-   Explore Story Map

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# Long-Term Vision

The technology developed here becomes the foundation for:

-   Story Map
-   Character Explorer
-   Relationship Explorer
-   Location Explorer
-   Asset Explorer
-   Timeline Explorer
-   Knowledge Explorer
-   Continuity Explorer

The Story Intelligence experience is cinematic.

The permanent Story Map is analytical.

Both share the same underlying story data while presenting it
differently.

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# Ultimate Design Goal

The author should never feel they are watching a progress bar.

They should feel they are watching their world come alive.

By the time analysis finishes they should have greater confidence that
PlotDirector genuinely understands the novel they have spent months or
years creating.

The visualisation should become one of PlotDirector's signature features
and something authors remember, recommend and enjoy watching.
