# Check the product before the render

A convincing interface can still teach the wrong behavior. Use this worksheet
to connect every important visible action, label and result to evidence. Collect
only material you are authorized to share, and sanitize customer data before
placing it in a prompt or production artifact.

## Evidence table to fill in

| Depiction or claim                | Source and version/date            | What the source establishes | Status                                             | Owner / next action |
| --------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | ------------------- |
| [label, relationship or behavior] | [recording, docs, approved source] | [observed fact and limits]  | [verified / unknown / contradicted / illustrative] | [who resolves it]   |

For each planned scene, also record its depiction mode: real capture, accurate
reconstruction, or explicitly labeled conceptual illustration. A diagram may
simplify the presentation, but its arrows and states must preserve the behavior
being explained.

## Completed fictional example

DispatchDesk is an invented support-routing product. The following entries define the fictional behavior for this exercise. They
do not verify a real product or describe customer results.

| Depiction or claim                                   | Source                              | What it establishes                                                         | Status            |
| ---------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------- |
| DD-1042 has Category Checkout and Priority Urgent.   | Fictional sample-data ledger v1     | Those fields belong to this example ticket.                                 | Illustrative      |
| Category equals Checkout routes to Team Payments.    | Fictional behavior specification v1 | This one matching condition chooses this destination.                       | Illustrative      |
| Assignment preserves Priority Urgent.                | Fictional behavior specification v1 | The team changes; priority does not.                                        | Illustrative      |
| Assignment resolves the customer's checkout problem. | No supporting source                | Routing and issue resolution are different events.                          | Unsupported; omit |
| A Billing ticket stays unassigned by this rule.      | Fictional behavior specification v1 | This rule does not match Billing; nothing is established about other rules. | Illustrative      |

## Copyable audit prompt

```text
Audit this product-video storyboard against the supplied evidence.

Product and version: [fill in]
Depiction mode per scene: [capture / reconstruction / labeled illustration]
Evidence with dates or versions: [sanitized recordings, documentation, source]
Approved example-data ledger: [fill in]
Storyboard and draft claims: [paste]

For every important label, action, relationship and result:
- Identify the exact supporting evidence and what it actually establishes.
- Mark the item verified, unknown, contradicted, or illustrative.
- Check that the component appears on the correct product surface and in a state
  the intended user could actually reach.
- Check permissions, prerequisites, order of operations and state persistence.
- Track the example's identity and values across scenes; flag unexplained resets.
- Separate an observed example from a general claim about all cases.
- Distinguish a visible assignment, submission or success indicator from any
  downstream business outcome it does not prove.
- Flag accelerated waits, simulated data and conceptual visuals that need labels.

Do not infer missing behavior from a plausible-looking UI. If evidence conflicts,
show the conflict and ask for a current product check. Do not invent the answer.

Return an evidence table, a list of blockers, and the smallest concrete checks
needed to resolve them. Cite only sources supplied or actually inspected.
```

## Human review

Ask a product owner to reproduce the important path in the relevant version.
Check the result, not just the click target. A button labeled “Send” may queue a
message rather than establish delivery; the film must preserve that distinction.

If the evidence changes, find every scene and line depending on that fact.
Record the updated source and re-review the affected visuals, narration and
captions. Keep the old verdict with its version so reviewers can distinguish a past approval from the current product check.

[Read the full guide](https://20cuts.com/product-truth-before-animation).