Scenario design framework · v1

The 12-axis structural cube

A domain-agnostic scaffold for designing decision scenarios. Twelve structural axes define the shape of a choice; two content axes carry the domain specifics; two outcomes are measured, never set. Click any axis for its definition and what each value means.

Structural — designed Content — designed Outcome — measured
All Structural Content Measured
L1

Structural layer

12 axes · domain-agnostic · set at design time
L2

Content layer

2 axes · domain-specific · set at design time
L3

Measured outcomes

observed in response · not specified by design
⚠ SPOF The cube tagger is a substrate-side single point of failure. An LLM assigns these axis values (including C2) to each scenario. Like the schema's central classifier, it can fail two ways — missing tags on early scenarios, and mis-tagged values from prompt drift — and a mis-tag propagates downstream into the measurement schema. Both modes are still open; worth mitigating eventually (not urgent). Click for detail.

Notes for use

The three bands are separated by epistemic status, not just topic. The structural layer is a set of knobs you turn before running a scenario; the content layer is where domain specifics enter — choosing which costs you put in tension (C1) and how much expert competence the scenario demands to engage (C2); the measured layer captures what emerges from how someone actually responds.

Two structural pairs that look redundant but aren't. Scope (axis 5) is how many are affected; Relational distance (axis 6) is how close they are — you can have wide scope at high distance (institutional-abstract) or narrow scope at intimate distance. Information topology (axis 8) is what each side knows; Counterparty agency (axis 9) is what the counterparty does with it — a strategic counterparty under symmetric-complete information behaves very differently from one under intrinsic mutual uncertainty.

And don't confuse the newer content axis with a structural one. Expertise requirement (C2) is not Information topology (axis 8): topology is who knows what within the scene; C2 is how much expert conceptual framework the player needs to engage with the scenario at all. C2 pairs with the measured outcome "domain-confidence asymmetry" on the player side.