Mixed-Initiative Goal Manipulation

In state-space planning, search consists of backward and forward chaining through the effects and preconditions of operator representations. Although search is an acceptable mechanism to use in performing automated planning, we present an alternative model to present to the user at the interface of a mixed-initiative planning assistant. That is, we propose to model planning as a goal-manipulation task. This article empirically examines user performance under both the search and the goal-manipulation models of planning and shows that many users do better with the latter.