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Shelfery Assumptions and Open Questions

This is the Shelfery-specific assumptions and open-questions register. It is a companion to, not a replacement for, the company-wide registers at ../../../../docs/governance/assumptions-register.md and ../../../../docs/governance/open-questions.md. Company-wide items that also affect Shelfery should be tracked in the company-wide registers; this document is for items specific to this venture.

Working assumptions

# Assumption Notes
A1 The relevant user unit is a household, not necessarily an individual. Implemented in the production app (multi-user households with roles/invites) as of the 2026-07-11 reconciliation; still unvalidated with a broad user base. See docs/strategy/target-users-and-jobs.md.
A2 A warm, non-clinical brand tone fits this domain better than a generic SaaS aesthetic. Brand hypothesis; see docs/strategy/brand-and-positioning.md.
A3 Users are more motivated by reducing waste and regaining a sense of control than by nutrition or meal-planning goals. Unvalidated.
A4 Low-friction, approximate data entry is more important than precise inventory accuracy. Drives docs/strategy/product-principles.md; unvalidated.

Open questions

# Question Status Related
Q1 Is the brand palette, typography, logo mark, and wordmark lockup formally approved? Decided — color palette and typography approved via ADR-0001 (approved 2026-07-30); the jar-on-shelf mark and Spectral SC wordmark lockup (horizontal + stacked) approved via ADR-0002 (approved 2026-07-30) and wired into the shelfery repo's favicon/PWA icons and in-app hero screens the same day. Only the Open Graph share image remains unproduced, and the maskable-icon safe-zone crop is unverified. ../brand-assets.md, docs/strategy/brand-and-positioning.md, docs/architecture/implementation-alignment.md
Q2 What target platform(s) will Shelfery ship on (web, iOS, Android, other)? Decided — mobile-first web PWA (iPhone-first, Add to Home Screen); native wrapper deliberately out of scope for now. See ADR-0013 (approved 2026-07-11). ../../../../docs/decisions/ADR-0013-shelfery-platform-sharing-and-ai-feature-ratified.md, docs/architecture/implementation-alignment.md
Q3 What will the pricing model be, if any? Undecided. The implementation repo records a confirmed goal of paying users and an unapproved freemium-subscription strategy (revenue-ops.md there); a plan entitlements seam has shipped. No pricing decision ratified. docs/strategy/venture-brief.md, docs/architecture/implementation-alignment.md
Q4 Will Shelfery's implementation code live in this repository (ventures/shelfery/) or in a separate implementation repository? Decided — a separate implementation repository (pantryplus) is the ratified home for Shelfery's implementation code. See ADR-0010 (approved 2026-07-11). ../../../../docs/decisions/ADR-0010-shelfery-implementation-repository-pantryplus.md, docs/architecture/repository-boundary.md
Q5 Where will authoritative food-safety and shelf-life data be sourced from, and how will it be kept current? Not yet selected. Now pressing: planned implementation features (expiry alerts, default expiry windows, AI meal ideas) will require this. docs/domain/trust-safety-and-food-claims.md
Q6 Will Shelfery support household-sharing or multi-user access, and if so, what would that model look like? Decided — multi-user households with admin/member roles, invites, and revocation. See ADR-0013 (approved 2026-07-11). ../../../../docs/decisions/ADR-0013-shelfery-platform-sharing-and-ai-feature-ratified.md, docs/architecture/implementation-alignment.md
Q7 What level of visible endorsement, if any, will Devonshire Digital LLC have on Shelfery-facing surfaces? Open. (Observed: the implementation currently references Devonshire Digital nowhere.) docs/strategy/brand-and-positioning.md
Q8 Will Shelfery include any AI-assisted features (e.g. suggestions, recognition, automation), and if so, what would they be? Decided — AI photo-based product identification (Anthropic API) with per-household usage caps is ratified as a sanctioned feature. Further AI features (meal ideas, category classification) remain proposed only, not ratified. See ADR-0013 (approved 2026-07-11); docs/ai/guardrails.md still needs a follow-up revision. ../../../../docs/decisions/ADR-0013-shelfery-platform-sharing-and-ai-feature-ratified.md, docs/ai/guardrails.md, docs/architecture/implementation-alignment.md
Q9 Is the product name "Shelfery" formally approved? Decided — formally approved. See ADR-0012 (approved 2026-07-11). This resolves the naming contradiction between venture.json and brand-and-positioning.md; visual brand identity (palette, logo, tone) remains separately unapproved. ../../../../docs/decisions/ADR-0012-shelfery-product-name-formally-approved.md, docs/architecture/implementation-alignment.md
Q10 How do material decisions made in the implementation repository (pantryplus) get mirrored into this repository's governance (ADRs, strategy docs) going forward? Open — proposed convention in the alignment record. docs/architecture/implementation-alignment.md

Maintenance

This register should be updated whenever a Shelfery-specific assumption is validated or invalidated, or a question is resolved. Resolved items should be moved to a decision record (an ADR under docs/decisions/, or an update to the relevant strategy document) rather than simply deleted, so the venture retains a record of how the decision was reached.


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