Framework
Vocabulary
The Behaves Well Framework uses a precise vocabulary. Terms are defined canonically here and referenced consistently across the specification, principles, and patterns. Each entry records the version in which it was introduced. This material is governed by Framework Specification v1.0. Where a conflict exists, the current published Specification is authoritative.
The Behaves Well Framework relies on a shared vocabulary. Definitions established here are intended to remain stable across residential, commercial, institutional, and shared-environment contexts. Where a conflict exists between common usage and framework usage, the framework definition is authoritative.
Framework Responsibilities
Truth
Introduced v1.0
The first layer of the Behaves Well Framework — the accurate representation of itself, its state, and its actions to its occupants, caretakers, and records.
Identity
Introduced v1.0
The second layer of the Behaves Well Framework — the capacity to know who is present and to act in accordance with that knowledge, distinguishing between occupants, caretakers, and visitors.
Operational Trust
Introduced v1.0
The third layer of the Behaves Well Framework — the capacity to behave consistently, predictably, and explainably while disclosing failures and reducing surprise.
Stewardship
Introduced v1.0
The fourth layer of the Behaves Well Framework — the ongoing care, maintenance, accountability, and governance of environments, assets, services, systems, data, and obligations.
Continuity
Introduced v1.0
The fifth layer of the Behaves Well Framework — the preservation of state, history, knowledge, context, and operational understanding across time.
Concierge
Introduced v1.0
Emerged from Residential Research
The sixth layer of the Behaves Well Framework — the capacity to anticipate and serve needs proactively within defined boundaries and under accountable stewardship.
Human Trust
Introduced v1.0
The intended human outcome supported when an intelligent environment consistently demonstrates truthful representation, appropriate identity handling, operational trustworthiness, accountable stewardship, continuity, and bounded service. The framework establishes conditions that may support trust but does not presume or compel an individual to grant it.
Environment Constructs
Intelligent Environment
Introduced v1.0
A physical, digital, or hybrid context that perceives or receives information, maintains state, supports or makes decisions, communicates, coordinates services, or acts in ways that may affect people, assets, services, systems, data, experiences, or surroundings.
Context
Introduced v1.0
The set of conditions — occupancy, time, history, preferences, and environmental state — that an intelligent environment uses to inform its behavior. Context is gathered, stored, and applied within defined privacy and governance boundaries.
Presence
Introduced v1.0
The state of being within or associated with an intelligent environment in a way that the environment can detect, record, or act upon. Presence may be physical, digital, or delegated.
Actor Constructs
Occupant
Introduced v1.0
A person physically or virtually present within an environment whose experience, rights, safety, privacy, comfort, access, or activities may be affected by the environment's behavior.
Visitor
Introduced v1.0
A person whose presence or participation is temporary and whose authority, access, personalization, and data treatment are constrained by a defined visitor context.
Caretaker
Introduced v1.0
A person, role, organization, or authorized agent assigned responsibility for the stewardship of an environment, person, asset, service, system, data set, experience, or obligation within a defined scope.
Authority
Introduced v1.0
The right to approve, deny, modify, delegate, or revoke behavior, permissions, responsibilities, or governance decisions within a defined scope.
Accountability
Introduced v1.0
The obligation to answer for decisions, actions, responsibilities, outcomes, and stewardship obligations.
Governance Constructs
Governance
Introduced v1.0
The system of authority, accountability, responsibilities, constraints, policies, and decision-making structures through which an intelligent environment is directed, evaluated, and maintained.
Delegation
Introduced v1.0
The authorized transfer of responsibility or authority from one actor to another within a defined scope and duration.
Policy
Introduced v1.0
A governance rule that constrains, enables, or directs environment behavior.
Responsibility
Introduced v1.0
An obligation that an intelligent environment must fulfill in order to satisfy a framework layer and contribute to Human Trust.
Explainability Constructs
Explainability
Introduced v1.0
The capacity of an intelligent environment to account for its behavior — to describe what it did, why it did it, and what it intends to do next in terms meaningful to authorized occupants and caretakers.
Explanation
Introduced v1.0
A human-understandable account of an observation, decision, recommendation, state change, or action taken by an environment.
Explanation Request
Introduced v1.0
A request for an environment to disclose reasoning, context, evidence, intent, history, or state relevant to a behavior or decision.
Stewardship Constructs
Asset
Introduced v1.0
A person, environment, object, service, system, dataset, experience, obligation, or resource that may be subject to stewardship.
Technical Debt
Introduced v1.0
A stewardship obligation created when implementation decisions intentionally or unintentionally defer future effort, reduce maintainability, increase complexity, limit adaptability, or impair explainability.
Governance Debt
Introduced v1.0
A stewardship obligation arising from incomplete policies, unclear authority, unresolved accountability, or missing governance structure.
Continuity Debt
Introduced v1.0
A stewardship obligation arising from missing documentation, poor knowledge transfer, inadequate retention practices, or loss of historical context.
Stewardship Debt
Introduced v1.0
A condition in which responsibilities exist without sufficient ownership, accountability, resourcing, or oversight.
Framework Specification v1.0 is the authoritative source for all terms defined in this vocabulary. New terms, revisions, deprecations, and status changes are governed through the published evidence and framework governance process.