Design a small intake workflow that fails safely

Fictional practice project. Use it to demonstrate your process, not to claim a client relationship, qualification, or measured business result.

Northline Studio is fictional. It wants new project inquiries organized for human review. Design a test workflow that creates one review task per valid inquiry. No automated prospect messages, production credentials, or real customer records are needed.

SOURCE MATERIAL
SYNTHETIC INPUT RECORDS
A: inquiry_id=demo-101, email=person-a@example.com, service=Presentation, brief=Refresh a 10-slide pitch
B: inquiry_id=demo-101, email=person-a@example.com, service=Presentation, brief=Refresh a 10-slide pitch (duplicate event)
C: inquiry_id=demo-102, email=(empty), service=Content, brief=Newsletter pilot
D: inquiry_id=demo-103, email=person-b@example.com, service=Other, brief=Need help; please contact me
Task fields: inquiry_id, requested service, brief, review status.
Rules: missing required fields go to an exception queue; a repeated inquiry_id must not create another task; unfamiliar services get a “Needs clarification” label.
Failure scenario: task system returns an error before creation. Demonstrate a bounded retry or manual recovery route without duplicating the task.
All tasks remain unassigned drafts until a human reviewer acts.

DELIVERABLE
A workflow map, test log, and operator handoff using synthetic records.

STEPS
1. Describe the manual process before choosing any automation software.
2. Draw validation, duplicate handling, task creation, and exception paths.
3. Run the four records through a paper simulation or sandbox prototype; state which you used.
4. Simulate the connection failure and record recovery behavior.
5. Write a handoff with an off switch, reviewer responsibility, and a list of untested conditions.

SELF-REVIEW
[ ] Record B does not create a second task.
[ ] Record C produces a visible exception rather than silently disappearing.
[ ] Record D remains for human clarification.
[ ] Failure and recovery are observable and do not duplicate work.
[ ] The sample sends no messages and makes no production changes.

A happy-path demo is incomplete evidence. A useful test log records the input, expected result, observed result, and whether the result came from a simulation or an executed prototype.

https://aifreelancer.site/practice/intake-workflow/