Example
How to run a genealogy research project without confusing a tree app with sources
Edith is tracing one confusing great-grandparent. The consequential choice is whether May serves an archive visit, the family story stays parked as a lead, or she first cites the records already in hand instead of letting distant hints spend the day.
Answer one written question about the confusing great-grandparent with sources attached, and treat hints and stories as leads until they earn a citation
The written question and the no-hint-as-source rule
Keep the confusing great-grandparent ahead of easy distant hints
What is actually being asked
Compare May-archive, park-cousin-story, and cite-what-you-have
Keep a possible archive visit as work Edith still owns, not as a reply already in motion
Images and records with citations
Name evidence that still needs a citation
Hints and cousin stories not yet sourced
Keep a narrative from becoming a tree fact
Hold easy clicks so they cannot replace the question
The One research question Board separates sourced records, questions, and unsourced leads so a hint cannot silently become family fact.
The Research-path Room keeps the written question, existing census images, cousin story, archive possibility, and three evidence paths together.
Ava can organize source notes and point out gaps. Edith chooses the research path, verifies citations and permissions, interprets family evidence, and owns any archive visit.
A hint is not a source, and a cousin story is a lead
What belongs together is specific: Answer one written question about the confusing great-grandparent with sources attached, and treat hints and stories as leads until they earn a citation.
The consequential judgment remains human: Whether to spend May at the archive on that question, park the cousin story, or spend the month citing what she already has.
You.one can keep the work, evidence, and “Choose archive, park story, or cite existing” decision visible through its Superboard view. Authority does not move to the software: Edith chooses the question, cites sources, and owns any archive visit.
What changes after a tree app plus a hints sidebar
A tree app plus a hints sidebar can be enough while the situation stays simple: the question is already sourced.
It starts to break when an unsourced story, a May archive day, and easy distant hints share one person.
The One research question Board earns its place only when the familiar tool—a tree app plus a hints sidebar—can no longer keep the reason, Research-path brief, conversation, current state, decision, and history connected.
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A focused One research question Board
The One research question Board gives this mission one durable operating picture. Edith can use familiar language instead of translating the situation into project-management jargon. Its four Lists separate the kinds of attention this situation actually requires.
The point is a fast scan: what is moving, what is known, what is unresolved, and what Edith must choose. Questions not yet asked stay with Edith; they do not move to a list for outside replies.
Swipe or scroll sideways to see every column.
| List | What belongs here |
|---|---|
| Mission | The written question and the no-hint-as-source rule |
| Questions | What is actually being asked |
| Sources | Images and records with citations |
| Leads | Hints and cousin stories not yet sourced |
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Inside the “Choose archive, park story, or cite existing” Room
Opening the Card gives the visible item durable depth. Stage can hold Research-path brief: Place the written question, existing images, and archive / park / cite options on one page. Chat keeps the request and response beside that artifact instead of in a detached thread. Pulse can show “Open decision: Edith will choose a path that serves the written question.”
A Card Chat request can ask Ava to prepare the specific comparison or extraction in “Choose archive, park story, or cite existing” from the visible evidence. Ava can work from the context Edith deliberately brings into this Card, List, or Board; she cannot monitor the rest of life, contact anyone, or inherit the decision.
Edith's call remains explicit: Edith chooses the question, cites sources, and owns any archive visit.
Swipe or scroll sideways to see every column.
| Surface | Job in this example |
|---|---|
| Stage | Research-path brief: Place the written question, existing images, and archive / park / cite options on one page |
| Chat | Keep Edith's request and Ava's attributed response with the work |
| Pulse | Open decision: Edith will choose a path that serves the written question |
What Ava can prepare from visible context
These requests stay with the facts Edith has made visible around “Choose archive, park story, or cite existing.” Edith supplies the evidence, checks Ava's work, and decides what belongs in the Room.
Current Ava can prepare help after an explicit request. She cannot make the choice, represent Edith, watch other work on her own, or contact anyone.
Edith owns the research, citations, and any archive visit. Ava does not contact archives, invent ancestors, or attach unsourced facts.
A project with a question: the cousin story is a lead, the census folder is work to cite, and May is aimed or parked.
- Request idea: using only the context visible in this Card Room, compare using May at the archive, parking the cousin story, and citing what is already in the folder. Do not contact archives or choose for me.
- Request idea: use only the Research-path brief and notes the Owner has placed in this Card Room to separate facts, assumptions, and unanswered questions
- Request idea: from “Choose archive, park story, or cite existing,” draft a short decision note and name Edith as the decider
A starter shape, not a prescribed workflow
Edith should rename every List or Card that feels artificial. This recipe succeeds when “Choose archive, park story, or cite existing” becomes easier to decide and fewer open loops depend on memory—not when the Board looks tidy.
Swipe or scroll sideways to see every column.
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1. Write one question | One person |
| 2. Move images to Sources | Citation still required |
| 3. Keep hints as leads | Easy is not true |
| 4. Park cousin stories | Until they have a record |
| 5. Choose archive, park story, or cite existing | Open a Room before a distant branch spends the archive day |
Where this example stops
- This is a fictional example, not a customer story.
- This is not genealogical proof, legal identity, or a claim about any real family.
- It does not show Ava contacting archives or adding people to a tree.
- It is not a measured research result.