- ID: YYBW-008
- Status: Decided
- Date: 2026-04-13
- Scope: YY Branching World / YY's World evolution
- Depends on: YYBW-003, YYBW-004, YYBW-007
- Supersedes / clarifies: Clarifies the user navigation model
- Museum lineage: SK-005
Context
Once multiple branches exist, users need both attachment and reference. The winning interaction pattern became: let users follow/bookmark a branch they care about, but keep the root or canonical baseline instantly accessible so meaning never floats free of origin.
Decision
Users may bookmark/follow a branch. Every branch view must provide a clear, immediate path back to root and to branch-to-root comparison.
Why
This preserves:
- emotional attachment to a path
- intellectual grounding in origin
- shared community reference
- the meaning of divergence itself
Alternatives considered
- Root-only navigation — too dry, no attachment.
- Branch-only immersion — too disorienting; users lose context.
- Deep tree browser first — too complex for mobile habit use.
Reversals / scars preserved
- The product repeatedly risked becoming either too personal ('my branch only') or too abstract ('everything relative').
- The follow-plus-root model was the clean balance.
Consequences
- Every branch page should expose compare-to-root, timeline, and switch-branch affordances.
- Notifications/email can target followed branches while still referencing root deltas.
- Root remains canon; following is preference, not truth.
Invariants preserved
Explainability through persistent root access; Discipline by preventing branch drift from becoming contextless; Compression via simple navigation primitives.
Freshness boundary
Stable.