Values Commons Adoption Kit
Use this when someone asks, "How do I actually use or adopt this?" The goal is not to sell one app. The goal is to help a person, group, or community steward choose the smallest real next step in Values Commons.
Choose The Path
| If the person is... | Start with | Then |
|---|---|---|
| Curious but new | Two-minute tour | Instances |
| Making a personal choice | Instances | Values Passport |
| Organizing a group | Assembly | Slate |
| Correcting facts | Workshop | Contribute |
| Building a domain front door | Create an instance | Contribute |
| Reviewing the protocol | Open Values Standard | Standard v0 |
Rule of thumb: send people to Values Commons first unless they came with a concrete everyday decision. Conscious Consuming is the real-data flagship and proof of the engine; it is not the whole container.
First Conversation
Use these four questions before recommending a next action:
- What decision are you trying to make or help others make?
- Is this one person choosing, or a group trying to act together?
- Do the facts already exist, or does a lens need to be built or corrected?
- What must remain uncapturable: values, evidence, group decision, or all three?
If the answer is fuzzy, start with the tour. If the answer names a domain, start with instances. If the answer names a group, start with Assembly.
Report Back
After someone uses the kit, ask for a short learning receipt. Use the preview feedback loop if you are running a cohort or grant preview.
| Field | What to capture |
|---|---|
| Path tested | Individual choice, group decision, fact correction, protocol review, or instance stewardship. |
| Real decision | What were they trying to choose, compare, move, fund, avoid, or build? |
| Did it help? | What became clearer, easier, or more trustworthy? |
| What was missing? | Missing option, stale source, confusing term, broken route, or absent contribution path. |
| Did they trust it? | Where did trust increase or break: values control, evidence, privacy, language, or exportability? |
| Next patch | The smallest source, wording, route, lens, or steward packet change that would help the next person. |
Do not turn every reaction into roadmap. A good next patch is specific, reproducible, and tied to a real use attempt.
Individual Use
For a person trying to make a choice:
- Open a live instance from Instances.
- Weigh values until the ranking feels honestly theirs.
- Inspect the evidence behind the top and bottom results.
- Export or copy the Values Passport if they want the same values to travel.
- If a fact looks wrong, route it to Workshop or Contribute.
Success means the person can explain why the result changed when their values changed. It does not require them to agree with a universal ranking.
Group Use
For a group trying to choose together:
- Have each person create or bring a Values Passport.
- Merge the passports in Assembly.
- Name where there is alignment and where dissent remains.
- Patch or fork the relevant lens in Workshop if the facts are contested.
- Use Slate to turn shared values and facts into an action list with reasons.
Success means the group can see the decision receipts and the dissent. Do not fake unanimity to make the outcome cleaner.
Instance Steward Packet
For a community that wants a new domain front door, write this before building:
| Field | Steward answer |
|---|---|
| Decision | What should people rank, compare, switch, fund, avoid, or adopt? |
| Audience | Who will recognize the options and trust the framing? |
| Starter lens | Which 8-20 options and 3-7 criteria are enough for a first honest test? |
| Passport bridge | Which universal values transfer into this domain, and which should stay visibly not transferred? |
| Trust boundary | How will the instance stay no-account, no-tracking, no-ads, no-pay-to-rank, and static-capable? |
| Contribution route | Where do corrections, missing options, source disputes, and forks go after launch? |
Use Create an instance for the implementation path after the steward packet is clear.
What Not To Do
- Do not start by adding features. Start by naming a decision.
- Do not collect accounts just to learn whether the idea works.
- Do not claim a lens is neutral. Say whose values and which facts are being used.
- Do not bury dissent in a group decision.
- Do not treat the optional Community layer as the core. The core is files and browser code.
- Do not launch a new instance until the contribution route is visible.
Minimum Launch Checklist
- The page says what decision it helps with.
- The values that transfer from a passport are named.
- The lens has enough recognizable options to test the domain honestly.
- Every contested score has a source or is clearly marked as illustrative.
- The instance links back to Values Commons, Passport, Workshop, and Contribute.
- A person can export, fork, or challenge the relevant files.
- The trust boundary is intact: no account, no tracking, no ads, no pay-to-rank.
- A learning receipt can be written without creating an account or exposing private values.
Useful URLs
| Need | URL |
|---|---|
| Public home | / |
| Tour | /tour/ |
| Instances | /instances/ |
| Passport | /passport/ |
| Workshop | /workshop/ |
| Assembly | /assembly/ |
| Slate | /slate/ |
| Weave | /weave/ |
| Contribute | /contribute/ |
| Standard | /standard/ |
The adoption kit is successful when someone can pick a path without needing a founder, platform account, or private explanation.