01
Build local-first whenever practical
A product should not require a remote account, subscription, or permanent connection unless those things provide a real and necessary benefit.
02
The user owns the record
Files, projects, history, settings, and decisions should remain under the user's control. Export, backup, restoration, and portability are part of the design—not afterthoughts.
03
AI recommends; humans decide
AI may organize evidence, identify patterns, propose relationships, and assist with reasoning. Final authority remains with the human responsible for the project.
04
Test before making claims
A promising simulation, prototype, or idea is evidence—not proof. Claims should remain proportional to what has actually been tested, reproduced, or derived.
05
Preserve failures and changes
Rejected approaches, implementation errors, abandoned ideas, and revisions belong in the project record. Knowing why something failed prevents the same work from being repeated later.
06
Prefer understandable systems
Cleverness is not automatically an improvement. A system that can be inspected, repaired, explained, and maintained is often more valuable than one that is merely sophisticated.
07
Design for graceful failure
Systems should degrade safely, preserve essential information, and retain useful function when components, networks, suppliers, or plans fail.
08
Do not manufacture certainty
When evidence is incomplete, uncertainty should remain visible. Unresolved is better than confidently wrong.
09
Publish what can responsibly be published
Useful knowledge should not disappear into private notes forever. Public documentation, permanent archives, and clear provenance help work survive beyond one device, company, or person.
10
Respect the person using the product
No unnecessary ads, tracking, manipulation, friction, or forced engagement. A product should do its job and then leave the user alone.
Quiet resilience
Redundancy is not waste when it preserves function. Simplicity is not weakness when it improves reliability. A durable system is one that remains useful when conditions are imperfect.
The goal is not to build the loudest company or the most complicated product. The goal is to build things that continue to work—and that remain worth using.