5.2 KiB
Phase 20 -- Story Intelligence User Experience
Purpose
This document defines the intended user experience for Story Intelligence.
It complements the technical architecture documents by describing how Story Intelligence should feel from an author's perspective.
The goal is not simply to import a manuscript into PlotDirector.
The goal is to transform an existing manuscript into a rich, structured PlotDirector project with the minimum possible effort from the author.
Throughout this document the author remains the final authority.
Story Intelligence assists the author.
It never replaces them.
Design Philosophy
Story Intelligence should feel effortless.
The author should never feel that they are performing data entry simply so PlotDirector can understand their manuscript.
Instead, PlotDirector should quietly perform hours of structured work on the author's behalf.
The author should feel that they have handed PlotDirector their manuscript and, after a short wait, received a populated writing project ready to explore.
The ideal experience is:
"Upload my manuscript. Make a cup of tea. Come back to a project that already knows my story."
Core Principles
The manuscript is the source of truth.
Story Intelligence never rewrites the author's work. It observes, organises and suggests. The original manuscript always remains the authoritative version of the story.
AI assists.
AI never decides. Every imported item is a suggestion. The author may change, merge, split or delete anything created during import.
Structure before detail.
Before PlotDirector can understand a story it must understand its structure. Story Intelligence therefore builds the structural framework first before extracting detailed information.
Review uncertainty, not certainty.
Authors should never be asked to review hundreds of AI decisions. Only items with low confidence should be highlighted.
Creativity should never be interrupted.
Story Intelligence performs its work in the background. It should never repeatedly stop the author to request approval.
Import Modes
Automatic Import (Recommended)
The author supplies a manuscript and PlotDirector performs the complete Story Intelligence pipeline automatically. No manual approval is required during import.
Guided Import
Guided Import performs the same analysis pipeline but pauses at selected stages to allow the author to review AI suggestions such as scene boundaries, character aliases, ambiguous locations and low-confidence relationships.
Story Intelligence Pipeline
Stage One -- Structural Analysis
Outputs include chapters, suggested scene boundaries, narrative structure, point-of-view changes and significant time shifts.
Stage Two -- Semantic Analysis
Outputs include scene summaries, characters, locations, assets, relationships, knowledge changes, timeline clues, questions, story metrics and structured observations.
Progress Experience
During processing PlotDirector should continuously communicate progress using friendly, reassuring messages such as:
- Reading Chapter 12...
- Identifying dramatic scene changes...
- Building character profiles...
- Discovering important locations...
- Tracking significant story objects...
- Connecting relationships...
- Analysing emotional pacing...
- Mapping timeline events...
- Checking story continuity...
- Finalising your project...
Import Completion
Rather than simply stating that the import has finished, PlotDirector should summarise what has been created.
Example:
- 47 Chapters
- 183 Scenes
- 64 Characters
- 29 Locations
- 17 Story Assets
- Timeline created
- Story metrics generated
Import Report
The Import Report should highlight only lower-confidence items, such as large scenes, possible aliases, ambiguous locations, low-confidence relationships and scene boundaries requiring review.
Confidence Philosophy
Confidence guides review effort. It should never prevent import.
Author Review
Review is always optional. Authors can begin using PlotDirector immediately after import and refine imported data over time.
Future Improvements
Future capabilities may include additional AI providers, improved prompts, better scene boundary detection, richer continuity analysis, story health reports, character journey analysis and conversational "Ask My Story" features.
Success Criteria
Story Intelligence succeeds when:
- A first-time user can import an existing manuscript without prior PlotDirector knowledge.
- The resulting project immediately feels recognisable as their own book.
- Manual setup has largely disappeared.
- Review effort focuses only on uncertainty.
- The author remains in complete creative control.
- PlotDirector saves hours of repetitive project setup.
Guiding Principle
Story Intelligence should never interrupt creativity.
It should quietly perform hours of structured work while the author makes a cup of tea.
When the author returns, PlotDirector should already understand the structure of their story.