TIANLICHUJU — PERSONAL VERIFICATION WORKSHEET
Designing a Home Around the Things You Actually Do
https://tianlichuju.com/journal/designing-a-home-around-the-things-you-actually-do/

PROPOSED CHECKS — NO MEASURED RESULTS SUPPLIED
Date: __________________  Units: __________________
Room / product reference: __________________

1. Daily friction log
Where: The actual activity and location when something repeatedly becomes inconvenient.
Record: What happened, who was using the space, what was being carried and the time or sequence involved.
Your observation: ______________________________________________
Interpretation: An observation identifies a problem; it does not yet prove that a purchase is the solution.
Alternative: Record the recurring pattern before selecting furniture or a style.

2. Fixed versus changeable conditions
Where: A measured room plan beside the retained furniture and service locations.
Record: Doors, openings and fixed services separately from schedules, storage habits and household agreements.
Your observation: ______________________________________________
Interpretation: A building obstruction and an unclear routine require different responses.
Alternative: Change the relevant routine or seek the appropriate assessed physical alteration.

3. Success test
Where: A mockup of the proposed arrangement during the most difficult normal movement.
Record: The intended outcome, whether it occurs and what still has to move or be compensated for.
Your observation: ______________________________________________
Interpretation: A successful demonstration once is weaker than a repeatable ordinary-use result.
Alternative: Adjust the smallest relevant part and repeat before a custom or irreversible commitment.

PRACTICAL TRIAL
1. Log what already works so the brief preserves useful furniture and routines.
2. Write specific outcomes such as reachable controls rather than atmosphere-only goals.
3. Review the same observations after normal life returns, not solely on installation day.

COMPARE THE SAME SCOPE
- Same user tasks and success tests
- Retained items and measured constraints
- Dependencies and complete work scope
- Reversibility and realistic future changes
Cost drivers: Technical work that must precede decoration; Custom versus adaptable furniture; Repair, delivery and installation scope
Choose another route when: Do not use this general brief as a substitute for assessed structural, electrical, accessibility or other regulated work.

EVIDENCE BOUNDARY
The example outcomes are planning prompts, not observations of clients or evidence of a completed home. No time, cost or comfort improvement was measured.

PHOTO REFERENCE
Plants line a bright glazed space beneath a dark pitched overhead structure, with seating near the edges.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dumbarton_Oaks_solarium.jpg

DECISION CONDITIONS
choose: Use the activity brief when each proposed change answers a recorded problem, has an agreed priority and can be evaluated through an actual task or an appropriate professional specification.
alternative: Run a reversible trial or gather the missing information when the attractive proposal depends on assumptions about habits, building conditions or other decisions that have not yet been resolved.
stop: Stop procurement when the brief contains incompatible must-haves, an unassigned decision maker or unresolved building constraints; clarify the outcome and dependencies before asking products to settle them.

PUBLISHED REFERENCES
RIBA: How Do I Work with an Architect?
https://www.riba.org/explore/find-an-architect/homeowners-digest/how-do-i-work-with-an-architect/
RIBA's homeowner guidance asks a brief to identify aims, budget, intended activities, expectations and who will make decisions, with the architect helping develop the final brief. An activity list is therefore more useful when it also records priorities and authority, rather than leaving every appealing idea equally binding.
Scope: This is UK professional-association guidance for working with an architect, not a project survey, fee quotation or claim that this editorial brief replaces professional services.
Photographer: AgnosticPreachersKid
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

Notes: ________________________________________________________