The escalation spectrum is about how systems move between AI handling and human help when AI reaches its limits. Good design creates smooth steps from fully automated to fully human-driven help, with mixed states in between. Think about a customer service chatbot. It might handle simple questions by itself, work alongside a human agent for medium questions (showing the agent the conversation history), or completely hand over complex problems to humans. Good escalation keeps context during these transitions, so customers don't have to repeat their problem when moving from bot to human help. Designers need to plan:

• When to escalate, like after two failed answers
• How to explain the change, telling users why they're being transferred
• How to make handoffs smooth, keeping the conversation flowing

Thoughtful escalation doesn't treat human help as a failure mode but as a natural part of the service. It recognizes that different problems need different levels of human involvement, and plans for this from the start.