Handover
Goal and task separation
Goal and task separation is the practice of agreeing the target state a task must reach, leaving how it will be done open, and showing goals with the steps collapsed.
Control sits with both parties
When to use it
Any task where several routes reach the same acceptable outcome, and any multi-agent task where step-level display would overwhelm the person.
What it prevents
Micromanagement of procedure, and the misalignment that appears when a person approves steps without noticing the goal drifted.
Progressgoals, not steps
Every supplier reconciledOn track
Exceptions explainedSlow
Report draftedNot started
41 steps sit under these three, collapsed until one of them fails.
Where it is used
- OrchVis: a research prototype that parses free text into a goal graph with machine-checkable success conditions
Sources
Related patterns: Answer verification · Goal hierarchy
Worked through as a deck: The six stages of agent handover · Five minutes before the agent starts