Activate
An activate task determines which options meet or exceed a threshold, rule, or criterion.
Use activate when each option can be evaluated independently.
Typical Questions
- Which options satisfy the criteria?
- Which embryos should be excluded?
- Which homes are within budget?
- Which transactions are suspicious?
- Which satellite designs are feasible?
- Which alerts should be triggered?
Definition
In an activate task, each option is assessed independently. The decision does not require comparing every option against every other option. Instead, an option is returned if it passes a threshold or meets a criterion.
For example, in a car-buying scenario, a user might activate only cars below a certain price and mileage. Any number of cars may pass the filter: none, one, many, or all.
Unlike choose, activate does not guarantee how many options will be returned. It guarantees that returned options meet a level of acceptability defined by the criteria.
When to use activate
Use an activate task when:
- options are filtered, accepted, rejected, or flagged;
- thresholds or criteria matter;
- the number of returned options is unknown;
- the task is about acceptability rather than optimality;
- each option can be evaluated on its own.
Home-buying Example
In a homebuying scenario, the buyer filters homes by criteria such as budget, commute time, number of bedrooms, school rating, and move-in date.
Each home is evaluated independently. A home is returned if it passes the threshold or satisfies the buyer’s constraints. Any number of homes may pass the filter: none, one, many, or all.
This is an activate task because the goal is to identify which homes are acceptable, not to rank every home against every other home.s