Framework · discipline
Behavior Spec
A structured template for separating exact rules, interpretive assistance, evidence, measured reliability, authority, consequences, recovery, correction, and backoff.
Which exact event or rule makes this behavior eligible to run, and which conditions must prevent it?
Which evidence, signals, and context does the behavior use, and how are origin, independence, conflict, and freshness checked?
What measured task reliability supports this use, and how was any threshold calibrated on representative cases rather than model self-report?
What interpretive work does the system do, and what does it propose, prepare, execute, withhold, or refuse?
What is the system explicitly authorized to do, and where can the user constrain, pause, override, decline, or revoke that authority?
What evidence, state, consequence, and recovery or compensating path must remain visible when the action lands?
How does the user correct a wrong result, repair affected state, and control whether that correction becomes memory?
When and how does the system stop acting — temporarily, durably, or globally — when it should not?
What it helps you see
It exposes the questions or checks that need to be answered before the product behavior can be trusted.
How to use it
Fill the eight slots for one feature. The output is a behavior spec the team can argue against — concrete enough that disagreement lands on a slot, not on a vibe.
Use it when
Use this when a product question in Designing Behavior, Not Just Interaction needs structure before it becomes a screen, roadmap item, or portfolio claim.
Practice prompt
Choose a real product, project, or career decision and answer the framework's items in order. Carry forward the answer that changes the next move.
Source chapter
This framework was authored in Designing Behavior, Not Just Interaction. Read the chapter for the full argument and the worked examples that produced this shape.