7.7 KiB
Phase 20 -- Story Intelligence Onboarding
Functional Design Specification
Overview
The purpose of the Story Intelligence Onboarding Wizard is to transform a new user's manuscript into a structured PlotDirector project with as little manual effort as possible.
Rather than expecting the user to manually create chapters, scenes, characters and summaries, PlotDirector will guide them through an onboarding process appropriate to the way they write.
The wizard has two distinct objectives:
- Remove the "blank project" experience that new users currently encounter.
- Demonstrate PlotDirector's capabilities immediately by building a rich story model from the user's existing manuscript.
The wizard is website-led throughout. The PlotDirector Word Companion acts only as a document scanner and synchronisation agent where Microsoft Word is used.
Design Principles
- The onboarding should feel like a conversation rather than a configuration screen.
- The user should never be presented with options that are irrelevant to the software they use.
- AI is entirely optional.
- The user always remains in control.
- No manuscript is analysed using AI without explicit consent.
- The Word Companion remains the preferred workflow but is never mandatory.
Wizard Flow
Step 1 -- Welcome
Display a friendly welcome explaining that PlotDirector will tailor the setup to the author's workflow.
Step 2 -- Where are you in your writing journey?
- I'm planning a brand new story
- I've already started writing
- My manuscript is largely complete
Step 3 -- What software do you write in?
- Microsoft Word (Recommended)
- Google Docs
- Scrivener
- LibreOffice / OpenOffice
- Markdown / Obsidian
- Other
Store this preference against the user profile.
Step 4 -- Create your first project
Collect:
- Project Name
- Optional Description
Step 5 -- Create your first book
Collect:
- Book Title
- Subtitle
- Genre
- Estimated Word Count (optional)
- Cover Image (optional)
Path A -- Microsoft Word
A1 -- Install the Word Companion
Provide:
- Download button
- Installation guide
- Short demonstration video
- Troubleshooting link
A2 -- Open the manuscript
The user opens the manuscript in Word, starts the Companion, signs in and links the document to the selected Project and Book.
A3 -- Companion Detection
The Companion silently registers itself with PlotDirector, including:
- User
- Companion Version
- Current Document
- Linked Project
- Linked Book
- SignalR Session
The website updates immediately to show Word Companion Connected.
Until this point the Companion status is hidden from the application header.
A4 -- Scan Manuscript
The website instructs the Companion (via SignalR) to scan the document.
The Companion detects:
- Chapters
- Scenes
- Word Counts
- Character Candidates
- Hidden Document IDs
- Document Metadata
Progress is streamed continuously back to PlotDirector.
A5 -- Review Scan
Display the detected:
- Chapters
- Scenes
- Character Suggestions
Allow editing before import.
A6 -- Import Structure
Create:
- Chapters
- Scenes
- Characters
- Initial Scene Metadata
Return created IDs to the Companion so hidden document markers can be updated.
A7 -- Story Intelligence (Optional)
Explain that PlotDirector can analyse the manuscript using AI.
Explain:
- Entirely optional.
- Manuscript is securely processed using the OpenAI API.
- API content is not used to train AI models.
- Show estimated time.
- Show cost or included credits.
Buttons:
- Analyse Now
- Skip
Path B -- Other Writing Software
B1 -- Export
Guide the user to export their manuscript as .docx.
B2 -- Upload
Upload the document.
Use the same scanning engine as the Word Companion.
B3 -- Review
Display detected structure.
B4 -- Import
Create the project structure.
Explain that future updates can be imported by uploading a fresh Word export.
B5 -- Story Intelligence
Offer the same optional AI analysis.
Story Intelligence Pipeline
The pipeline should progressively build a structured Story Model.
- Scene analysis
- Character profiles
- Relationship summaries
- Location summaries
- Asset summaries
- Plot thread suggestions
- Timeline observations
- Continuity and warning generation
Each stage should consume structured data from earlier stages wherever possible rather than repeatedly analysing the manuscript.
Progress Experience
Progress should be streamed live using SignalR.
Example messages:
- Preparing manuscript
- Reading Chapter 12 of 38
- Summarising Scene 54
- Identifying recurring characters
- Building relationship map
- Finding important locations
- Tracking story assets
- Constructing timeline
- Generating character biographies
- Building your Story Model
- Finalising project
Display live counters for:
- Chapters
- Scenes
- Characters
- Locations
- Assets
- Relationships
- Plot Threads
Completion Screen
Present a dedicated completion page.
Example summary:
- 42 Chapters
- 186 Scenes
- 38 Characters
- 24 Locations
- 18 Assets
- 31 Relationships
- 11 Plot Threads
- 315 AI Suggestions
Buttons:
- Review AI Suggestions
- Open Project Overview
- Open Writer Workspace
- Take a Quick Tour
Dashboard Behaviour
If Microsoft Word was selected but the Companion has never connected:
Display a dashboard reminder.
Once connected:
- Hide installation prompts.
- Show Companion status in the application header.
- Future connections occur silently.
Future Enhancements
- Automatic manuscript update detection.
- Incremental re-analysis.
- Selective AI regeneration.
- AI confidence scores.
- Author approval queue.
- Background processing.
- Analysis history.
- Version comparison.
- Additional writing platform support.
Guiding Philosophy
The onboarding wizard is not simply importing a manuscript.
It is constructing a structured Story Model that powers PlotDirector's timelines, continuity analysis, relationships, locations, assets, plot threads, reports and writing tools.
The end result should leave authors feeling that PlotDirector has genuinely understood their story rather than simply copied their document into a database.