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UX Principles — Knowledge Hub

Status: Canonical product UX direction. Source: Extracted from ads-v1.md §6 (10 February 2026) before that document was archived. The 13 principles below remain the canonical UX framework for Knowledge Hub regardless of the technology stack drift in the rest of ADS v1.0. See also: docs/reference/ai-visibility-policy.md (AI framing rules), docs/design/warm-meridian-philosophy.md (visual design system), docs/reference/state-of-the-product.md §11 (product direction).


When principles conflict, lower-numbered principles take precedence over higher-numbered ones.

#PrincipleSummary
1The Tool Disappears; the Work RemainsAI never announces itself.
2Coordinator Directs; Tool ExecutesCoordinator is orchestrator, not editor.
3Content Anchors EverythingEvery AI contribution cites sources.
4Interface Density Scales with InvolvementLess UI when AI is confident, more when human input is needed.
5Speed is a FeatureSub-100ms micro-feedback.
6Progressive Disclosure, Two Levels MaximumNever more than two expansion levels.
7The Platform Goes to PeopleSMEs interact via email and tokenised links.
8Silence is Part of the UXDefault to silence. No global notification bell.
9Honesty Over Optimism”I don’t have content for this yet” over a weak guess.
10Security by DefaultDomain verification, attestation identity-pinned, audit trail.
11Education Through UseFeatures teach themselves through contextual guidance.
12Resist Enterprise HeavinessThis is for SMBs. No mandatory fields, no sequential approvals.
13Accessible by DesignWCAG 2.1 AA. Never colour alone. Always keyboard-accessible.

Four primary views: Home (Activity & Action Centre), Working Session, Content Library, Settings.

  • Persistent header with Cmd+K command palette
  • No sidebar, no hamburger, no global nav links, no notification bell

CategoryTarget
Micro-feedback (button presses, toggles)100-150ms
Small transitions (panel expand, drawer slide)200-300ms
Medium transitions (page navigation)300-500ms
AI streaming5ms per character (200 chars/second)

Extracted from ads-v1.md §6 (now archived to .planning/.archive/.reference/ads-v1.md) on 7 April 2026 as part of S151 Task 17b. Principles unchanged from the 10 February 2026 source.