Language

HRF freezes a small set of terms to prevent ambiguity at decision time. These terms are operational, not academic.

Readiness

The degree to which a decision can be made without relying on unvalidated assumptions.

Readiness is not confidence. Readiness is not completeness. Readiness is the absence of hidden dependency on future clarification.

Decision

A commitment that constrains future options.

In HRF, a decision is defined by what it removes from consideration, not by what it selects.

Design Intent

What the system is expected to do, under assumed conditions.

Design intent is always abstract. It only becomes real when confronted with physical behavior.

Physical Behavior

How a system actually responds to load, tolerance, environment, and time.

Physical behavior is not an error term. It is the ground truth.

Translation Gap

The mismatch between design intent and physical behavior caused by abstraction, simplification, or assumption.

Most downstream failures originate here.

Failure Injection Point

The moment a decision introduces a failure mode that cannot be removed later without disproportionate cost.

HRF focuses on identifying these points early.