The indicator must appear when editing begins, not after a conflict

What it is

Prospective conflict awareness exposes overlapping activity when editing starts, while another collaborator can still change plan. A warning after collision supports diagnosis and recovery, not prevention. Start may be inferred from edit focus, first input, or explicit edit mode, but these signals imply different strengths of intent.

Why it happens

Yielding must occur before the second conflicting operation is committed. Waiting for save or server conflict means both parties have invested work, raising abandonment cost. Treating page opening as editing produces occupancy false positives. The signal should therefore sit near observable intent while distinguishing a tentative focus state from actual input.

Studying it

Compare triggers at page open, focus, first keystroke, and commit. Measure reaction time before conflict, false positives, discarded work, and final collisions. Event logs need a common clock to reconstruct when each person saw the cue relative to typing. Low-latency laboratory results do not transfer directly to mobile networks.

Where it stops holding

Focus does not always imply intent, and assistive or mobile input may lack conventional focus events. Very short edits can finish before a cue propagates, so merge remains necessary. Early intent disclosure can also expose uncommitted activity.

Applying it

• Distinguish possible editing from observed input and reserve strong cues for the latter.
• Prioritize transmission of start state and object identity over fine cursor trails.
• Under latency, expose staleness instead of promising real-time accuracy.
• Measure the window between cue presentation and another user's input and whether pre-commit conflicts decline.

Related

• Same group: V2.06.1 Cues support yielding rather than blocking · V2.06.3 Cues need local scope · V2.06.4 Retention time determines accuracy · V2.06.5 False positives destroy trust
• Adjacent: V3.01 Concurrent editing · V3.06 Consistency under network latency
• Search terms: prospective awareness · editing intent · conflict prevention