- ID: YYBW-007
- Status: Decided
- Date: 2026-04-13
- Scope: YY Branching World / YY's World evolution
- Depends on: YYBW-001, YYBW-002, YYBW-005
- Supersedes / clarifies: Clarifies the low-cost interaction layer
- Museum lineage: PM-003, SK-012
Context
The surface evolved through several forms: rich narrative logs, SNES dialog, then SMS/emoji. Cost and usability converged on a mobile-first daily check-in product. The site should be fast to open, instantly readable, and usable on any phone.
Decision
Default user-facing reactions are short, SMS-style messages with selective emoji support. The primary interface is mobile-first, glanceable, and designed for 10–30 second daily check-ins.
Why
This yields:
- low token cost
- high emotional clarity
- easy comparison
- mobile-native behavior
- family-shareable simplicity without childishness
Alternatives considered
- Long daily prose everywhere — rejected due to cost and readability.
- Purely visual/no text — rejected because text is the causal legibility layer.
- Heavy game-like UI — rejected because the product is a daily reading/check-in ritual, not a gameplay session.
Reversals / scars preserved
- SNES dialog was a meaningful intermediate insight.
- Zork/text-adventure and Calvin-and-Hobbes references remain useful stylistic North Stars.
- Emoji were a late addition that improved compression and speed.
Consequences
- The UI should optimize for feed + compare + timeline, not forms or dashboards.
- Rich text should be reserved for highlights, weekly recaps, or premium/artifact layers.
- Voice guidelines must avoid both sterile enterprise speech and overly juvenile phrasing.
Invariants preserved
Compression and Explainability are the point; Discipline via short-form default; Survivability through text-first artifacts.
Freshness boundary
Stable for MVP; can layer richer prose later.