“Optional” sounds efficient. Flexible. Modern.
In system design, it rarely is.
Optional human input often means decisions are made faster — but understood less. Exceptions get automated. Context gets stripped away.
And when judgment becomes optional, responsibility quietly follows — not because anyone decided so, but because the system made it convenient.
This is how accountability fades: not through intent, but through defaults.
Where has “optional” already replaced “essential” in your systems?
