Components

Dial

Dial sets how far the model may go in one area of the app: person only, prepare, or act. Turn it and every control in the area changes its reach mark at once. Sealed controls have a ceiling and never rise above person only.

Live specimen

Payments are set to prepare and leasing to act. Turn leasing down to person only and every leasing control loses its pigment. Turn payments up to act: the vendor email follows, the payment run stops at prepare, and the deposit release stays sealed.

Anatomy

When to use

  • When people trust the model more in one area than another: replying to enquiries freely, but only preparing payments.
  • At the top of the area it governs, as well as in settings, so people change it where they feel the need.
  • Not for one action. Use Seal to set a single control’s reach.

Behaviour

DialControls below their ceilingControls at their ceiling
Person onlyPerson onlyPerson only
PrepareThe model prepares; you confirmStay at their ceiling
ActThe model acts on its ownStay at their ceiling; sealed ones stay person only

A control’s reach is the lower of the dial and its ceiling. The dial can lower any control at once; it never raises one past its ceiling.

Best practices

  • Name each stop by what the model may do: Person only, Prepare, Act. Not low, medium and high.
  • Say the result in words under the dial: “The model may, on its own: draft vendor emails.”
  • Give irreversible actions a ceiling, and show it as sealed.
  • Start a new area at Prepare. People raise trust; the model doesn’t.
DoShow what each stop allows, control by control.
Don’tDon’t put all reach behind one switch for the whole app. People trust the model differently with email and with money.

Accessibility

  • The dial is a slider with three values and a text value: “Prepare”. Arrow keys step; Home and End jump to the ends.
  • Each control’s name includes its reach: “Release a deposit: Person only, capped.”
  • The summary is a polite live region, so a change is heard as well as seen.
  • Reach shows as the shape of the mark and in words, never by colour alone.

Specifications

Track
34 pt, three stops
Thumb
28 pt, carries the reach mark
Control
40 pt pill with its reach mark
Sealed
Ink tag, mono 9 pt
SealButtons that show what the model may press; irreversible ones need a hold.ActionsX-rayReveal what the model can read, write and do on any screen.SystemMarksReach marks, the model mark and the model caret.DelegationHand work to an agent, see what it did, and take it back.