Elephant-Goldfish Model
EGM is an open-source plugin for AI assistants. You develop a plan with an assistant that knows the background. Reviewers that do not see the conversation then read the plan and report what is missing or unclear.
Drafting assistant
Knows your goal, the background, and the whole conversation.
Your written plan
The only thing the reviewers read.
Fresh reviewers
Start from zero and report what is missing or unclear.
The findings
You check them and decide what to change.
An example
An author knows things that the plan does not say. Reviewers without the conversation find those gaps.
Study space opening plan
The space opens on 3 March. Volunteers staff the desk1 during opening hours2. Students book rooms with the usual form. We keep the Friday rule3.
Who staffs the desk?
The plan names no person and no rota.
When is the space open?
The plan refers to opening hours but does not state them.
What is the Friday rule?
The plan depends on a decision that the reader cannot see.
Where to start
Bring a class project, a design brief, a delivery plan, or a software design. Write down the goal, constraints, and decisions a reviewer needs to understand.
Read the guideInstall
EGM runs as a plugin in these applications. You do not need to write software.
Review support differs between applications. Read the install guide or view the source.
The method comes from Dave Rensin’s article, Elephants, Goldfish, and the New Golden Age of Software Engineering.