Intent vs Intention

I joined a group of writers who are sharing a simple prompt each week, and then all writing on that prompt.

The first prompt: Intention.

That's a funny word, because it has all sorts of connotations associated with it. The most common phrase that comes to mind it "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

There's also a lot of baggage around "unINTENDED consequences".

So, it feels like there is a big disconnect between what our intentions are and what the outcomes are.

But there's another word that is at the forefront of my mind right now: intent.

Specifically, user intent. With My AI Cofounder, I'm focusing a lot on user intent, because I want to help them accomplish exactly what they intend, with the minimum amount of work. And user intent is pure gold when it comes to product development, because if you understand what the users intent is, you can provide that. You don't need to convince them of anything if you can show them they can accomplish exactly what they want to do with your product.

So I actually thought the prompt was Intent at first, because that's the word I was focused on. But as I was thinking about it, I wanted to compare the two words.

From Vocabulary.com:

"If you have an intent, you have a motive or purpose. Intention and intent are synonyms, but with a subtle difference. Intention implies a general desire or plan to accomplish something, while intent is a little stronger, indicating a firm resolve to get it done. Intent can be used as a noun or adjective."

That's an interesting distinction. Intent is a firm resolve. It's going to get done. Intent is tied to purpose.

Intention on the other hand, is a general plan. When we look at the previous quotes around "intention", we can see how the generality can end up with unintended consequences; it doesn't account for all the variables.

With purpose, it's deeper. We can't help but focus on everything related to our purpose. Purpose is full of curiosity, a desire to understand, and a drive to accomplish things.

So as you think about your intentions, are they full of intent?

Are they tied to your purpose?

Or are they just a general plan and something you kinda want to do?