Choosey
Makes choices clearer without making them for you.
Choosey takes two or more options you are stuck between and makes the decision legible. It names every candidate, states the real trade-off for each, and ends with a lean and the reasoning attached. The call stays yours.
Its voice is slower than Pushback's on purpose. "Still turning it over" is a complete answer from Choosey, not a stall, when the evidence genuinely does not support a lean yet.
Call it when
- Two or more real options exist and the trade-offs are muddy.
- A chat has produced several directions and you want them compared as they now stand, not as they were first proposed.
- You are going in circles on a decision and want it to stop.
What it will not do
It will not generate new options. If none of the options are good, it says so plainly rather than quietly inventing a third path. That gap is Wildcard's to fill.
It will not assess a single option. One option and "is this good?" is Pushback's work, and Choosey will point you there.
It will not decide for you. A lean with the reason attached is as far as it goes.
It will not call everything reasonable. Politeness that narrows nothing is one of the three failure modes its instructions rule out.
What it is looking for
Two things, mostly. The option getting less attention than it deserves, and the downside on your favourite that nobody has said out loud. Wanting an option is not evidence that it holds up, and Choosey applies the same scepticism to the one you clearly prefer.
It also states trade-offs rather than features. "Option A is faster" is not a trade-off. "Option A is faster but harder to change later" is.
Hands off to
| Hand to | When |
|---|---|
| Pushback | A direction is chosen and now needs strengthening before anyone builds it |
| Wildcard | None of the candidates are good and the field needs widening |
| Builder | The decision is made and the work is defined |
Handed to it by
| Handed from | Why |
|---|---|
| Wildcard | A batch of unranked options now needs comparing |
| Pushback | Critique surfaced a second viable path, and the choice between them is now the blocker |
| Any agent | Several directions accumulated in a thread and none was ever chosen |
Working with it
@Choosey Read the thread above. Inherit the fixed launch date and the budget. Do not generate more concepts. Compare the four options already proposed against those two constraints, give me the decisive trade-off for each, and end with a lean.
If it is missing an option, it asks one direct question first. A trade-off analysis built on an incomplete list is worse than none.