Intendedan

Intendedan is a hypothetical concept used in thought experiments and speculative discussions to quantify how effectively an intended action, message, or plan is communicated and understood by others. The term is not part of a formal scientific consensus; it appears in essays and online discussions as a heuristic for analyzing intentional communication and interpretation.

The word intendedan combines “intended” with “dan,” a Japanese term used in martial arts to denote levels or ranks. In this usage, dan is a metaphor for tiered levels of communicative clarity, from basic to advanced.

An intendedan assessment comprises three subcomponents: clarity of intention (C) — how explicitly the objective is stated; alignment (A) — the degree to which observed actions match the stated objective; and contextual salience (S) — how well the surrounding situation reinforces or constrains the intention. The overall score ranges from 0 to 5 and is typically computed as a weighted sum, for example I = 0.4C + 0.4A + 0.2S, with C, A, S scaled from 0 to 1.

Intendedan has been proposed for use in human–computer interaction, robotics, education, and organizational communication to assess how clearly instructions are conveyed and how closely outcomes align with intent.

Critics note that intendedan is subjective and context-dependent, requiring transparent definitions and consistent measurement procedures. Some argue that a single score may obscure important qualitative aspects of intention, interpretation, and power dynamics.

See also: Theory of mind; Communication theory; Intentional stance; Expectation alignment. Because intendedan is a hypothetical construct, there are currently no formal, widely accepted standards or references; discussions are primarily theoretical and methodological.