The customer’s taskWhat AI can help withYour existing systems
EngineeringDesigned for the work
Useful software→
Test / Review / Improve
How the parts fit togetherProduct design, AI and existing systems need to work together. Clear access rules, testing and human review turn a promising feature into useful software.Product thinking. Systems engineering.
01 / Twelve ways to move the business forward
What could work better?
Pick a problem worth solving. Open a solution to see what could change, how we would measure it and what it needs to work.
Examples of possible work. Scope and measures are agreed for your business.
01 / For your customers
Products your customers use.
Give people a better way to use your expertise, choose an option or get something done.
Customer productIllustrative concept
A business choosing maintenance supportWhich service plan fits?
Option APlanned visits
Regular inspections and scheduled care.
Option BCall-out support
Help when a particular issue appears.
Compare the reasons. The customer makes the choice.
Describe the need
Compare the options
Confirm a choice
Customer understands the choiceTeam receives a clear request
A choice with a clear next step.Illustrative customer product: compare planned maintenance visits with call-out support, then confirm a choice the team can act on.
01A product built around your expertise
Proposed measure: Task completion · repeat use
Your advice is valuable. Delivering it always needs someone in the room.
A possible flow for this work
01Define the customer task
02Shape useful guidance
03Test a first release
What could change
Shape a customer product around a repeatable part of your service: guided analysis, recommendations or a review workspace. Design the experience, test demand and build the useful first release.
How we would know it helps
Customers can complete the task, understand the result and find a reason to return. Test willingness to pay where it is a paid product.
What it depends on
Your subject expertise, access to prospective users, rights to the source material and clear limits on the advice the product may provide.
Customers chase updates. Your team keeps answering the same emails.
A possible flow for this work
01Submit information
02Review the work
03Approve the next step
What could change
Give customers one place to submit information, review work, approve a decision and see what happens next. Extend an existing customer platform or develop a focused application around the service.
How we would know it helps
Completed requests, time to approval and how often customers need staff help. Check accessibility and correct customer access alongside adoption.
What it depends on
The systems holding customer records, identity and access rules, the service process and who owns the response after a customer acts.
There is a useful AI idea. It still needs to fit the product people already use.
A possible flow for this work
01Start with the existing task
02Add focused AI help
03Check the result in the product
What could change
Add a focused capability such as document review, supported search or a draft recommendation. Connect it to the existing interface, account permissions and saved work.
How we would know it helps
Successful task completion, repeat use, correction effort and cost per useful result. Compare the experience with the current way of working.
What it depends on
Access to the product, representative user tasks, appropriate information and agreed quality, response-time and operating-cost limits.
Your catalogue is clear to specialists. Customers still need help choosing.
A possible flow for this work
01Describe the requirements
02Compare suitable options
03Confirm a choice
What could change
Build a guided selection or advisory experience that explains relevant options, checks requirements and hands a qualified request to the right person or system.
How we would know it helps
Correct selections, completed enquiries and qualified conversions. Keep unsuitable recommendations and customer confusion visible.
What it depends on
Current product information, compatibility or eligibility rules and a route to a person when the information cannot support a recommendation.
Make the information you already have easier to find, check and use.
Company knowledgeIllustrative concept
“Can I arrange this return?”
Returns policySample: approval before collection
Restricted fileKept out of the answer
Answer + evidenceGet approval before arranging collection.
Source: the sample returns policy
An answer with somewhere to check it.Sample policy: returns need approval before collection. The answer retains that source; restricted files stay outside it. This illustrates a proposed knowledge tool.Watch the idea in motion4 seconds
A returns question leads to an answer supported by the sample policy. The restricted document stays separate. Illustrative concept, using sample information.
The answer exists. Finding the right version takes three people.
A possible flow for this work
01Ask the question
02Find permitted sources
03Check the answer and source
What could change
Connect approved policies, project records and service information to a useful search or assistant experience. Start with existing platform capabilities where they fit; add retrieval and a tailored interface where needed.
How we would know it helps
Time to a correct, supported answer, source freshness and how often staff must step in. Test restricted and unanswered questions too.
What it depends on
Identifiable source owners, permission rules, representative questions and agreement about where company information may be processed.
People read the same files, compare the same details and still miss changes.
A possible flow for this work
01Read the relevant details
02Compare the evidence
03Let the reviewer decide
What could change
Create a workspace that extracts the relevant details, compares versions and puts evidence beside a suggested finding. Keep the reviewer in control of the final decision.
How we would know it helps
Review time, missed issues, incorrect findings and the effort needed to correct them. Agree what must always go to a specialist.
What it depends on
Representative documents, a shared definition of a correct finding, rights to process the files and the qualifications needed for the final review.
07Research and reporting without the repeat preparation
Proposed measure: Preparation time · corrections
Every report starts with another round of collecting and checking information.
A possible flow for this work
01Collect approved sources
02Prepare linked analysis
03Review the report
What could change
Connect approved sources, prepare repeatable analysis and produce a reviewable report with linked evidence. Keep calculations and agreed business definitions explicit.
How we would know it helps
Preparation time, factual corrections, data freshness and whether the report supports the decision it was made for.
What it depends on
Reliable source access, agreed measures and calculation rules, report ownership and a reviewer who can judge the conclusions.
08Proposals grounded in what your business can deliver
Proposed measure: Proposal preparation time
The team keeps rebuilding answers from old proposals and scattered notes.
A possible flow for this work
01Read the request
02Draft from approved material
03Approve the commitments
What could change
Bring approved capabilities, project material and reusable answers into a proposal workspace. Draft against the request, link the supporting material and flag commitments that need approval.
How we would know it helps
Preparation time, unsupported claims, review effort and proposal usefulness. Treat win rate as a broader commercial measure, not proof that drafting alone caused a sale.
What it depends on
Approved source material, confidentiality rules, current commercial terms and someone accountable for the final offer.
Connect the requests, records and decisions your team currently has to chase.
Connected workIllustrative concept
01
Quote request arrives
Bring the item and quantity together.
02
Quantity missing?
Return the request to its owner.
03
Check the price and approval
Use the agreed rules or ask a person.
A quotation ready to send
The record carries the approved details.
A request that reaches the next person ready.Illustrative quotation workflow: missing quantities go back to an owner before a quote can be approved and sent.Watch the idea in motion10 seconds
A missing quantity is supplied, a person approves the request and the next team receives one work item. Illustrative concept, using sample information.
A straightforward quote still waits for details, prices and someone to approve it.
A possible flow for this work
01Collect the request
02Check prices and rules
03Approve the quotation
What could change
Capture the request, find the relevant product and pricing information, prepare a quotation and route exceptions for approval. Use the CRM, field-service or finance platform that should hold the record.
How we would know it helps
Time to an accurate quote, corrections, approval delays and margin exceptions. Follow quote acceptance without promising a conversion uplift.
What it depends on
Current prices and product data, approval rules, supported platform access and an owner for unusual requests.
The sale is complete. Delivery is still waiting for the right information.
A possible flow for this work
01Gather the requirements
02Resolve missing details
03Hand over ready work
What could change
Connect forms, documents, customer records and team handoffs. Show what is missing, who needs to act and when the customer is ready for the next stage.
How we would know it helps
Time to readiness, repeated information requests and stalled handoffs. Check that required consent, approval and customer access remain intact.
What it depends on
An agreed onboarding process, the relevant CRM or service system, ownership at each handoff and a clear route for exceptions.
Proposed measure: Cost per correctly completed item
Incoming forms and attachments become another queue of manual data entry.
A possible flow for this work
01Read the incoming files
02Check the required fields
03Send to the right record
What could change
Read incoming documents, check required fields and prepare records in the system of record. Send unclear items to a review queue and make retries safe.
How we would know it helps
Cost per correctly completed item, exception rate and duplicate prevention. Reading a document is only part of completing the work.
What it depends on
Representative files, validation rules, supported write access and a person or team responsible for unresolved items.
12Service requests that reach the right resolution
Proposed measure: Correct resolution · time to help
Staff spend time sorting requests before they can start helping.
A possible flow for this work
01Understand the request
02Route with context
03Resolve or escalate
What could change
Classify incoming requests, retrieve approved answers, prepare responses and route work into the service platform. Use native support features where suitable, with human handoff for sensitive or uncertain cases.
How we would know it helps
Correct resolution, time to help, repeat contacts and customer experience. Review the quality of closed requests as well as queue length.
What it depends on
A maintained knowledge base, routing and escalation rules, access to the service system and clear ownership after handoff.
Build on what already works. We bring product strategy and implementation together across business platforms, automation tools and custom applications.
The choice follows your requirements, existing investment, running costs and ability to operate the result.
Microsoft / Dynamics 365SalesforceServiceTitanHubSpotGoHighLeveln8n
Existing platform
Configure
The platform already has the capability.
Existing platform+ One useful capability
Extend
The platform fits. One important piece is missing.
Tool ATool B
Connect
Useful systems leave work stuck between them.
A product of its own
Build
The product or requirement needs software of its own.
The same business goal can need different implementations. Check platform editions, supported APIs, access, licensing and data terms before committing. Include maintenance and future changes in the comparison.
You need a useful capability designed, implemented and put to work.
What a useful release needs
01
One agreed journeyThe task and its acceptance checks
02
A checked working releaseEvidence against the agreed checks
03
A practical handoverAgreed access, documentation and support
Bring product strategy, experience design and engineering together. Configure, extend or connect existing software, or build a custom application when the requirement calls for it.
Leave with
An agreed working release, evidence that it meets acceptance checks and a practical plan for operation and improvement.
Discovery is part of the work: understand the users, compare the options and agree the first useful result. Use what you already know and test the important unknowns.
Define Deliver Learn & improve
02 / Try it for yourself
Good ideas deserve a working test.
Change an order. Watch its approval reset. Try saving it twice. The recorded steps show how the example handles each decision.
Try the same checks in the sample-order workbench. It uses fixed rules and sample data, with no AI model or customer system connected. The Lab also includes proposed product and knowledge designs.
Choose one task and agree what better would look like: less rework, a faster review or a more useful customer experience. Measure today’s process first, including the cost of changing it and the reasons to stop.
What to agree
A picture of today’s process, a measure of success and one useful first release.
Control
What is the system allowed to do?
Decide what the software may see, suggest and change. Follow company information through the connected tools and AI service. Agree who can access it, how long it is kept and which actions need a person’s approval.
What to agree
A clear map of where information goes, who may use it and what needs approval.
Quality
How will we know it works?
Choose real kinds of work to test, including missing information and mistakes that would be costly. Use the same examples to check each release. Agree when the software should stop and ask a person.
What to agree
Example tasks, agreed standards and a clear way to involve the right person.
Economics
What will a useful outcome cost?
Include the AI service, hosting, licences, connections, human review and support. Look at the cost of finishing a useful task as well as the monthly bill. A cheap answer is not good value if someone has to redo the work.
What to agree
An estimate based on expected use, review time and support, rather than just the price of the AI model.
Ownership
What happens if it works?
Decide who will run the software, who will improve it and what the team will do with the time it saves. Agree the access, documentation and support they need to take over confidently.
What to agree
A named owner, practical operating instructions and a plan to help people use it.
04 / Go deeper into the architecture
How the pieces work together.
Explore the decisions behind a product, company search tool or internal workflow: who can use it, what it can access and what happens when something goes wrong.
Systems Atlas3 types of system · 18 design decisions
Systems Atlas
Change the business context. Open a layer. Inspect the decision, what can fail, and the evidence worth asking for.
Intelligence inside a product.
Follow a customer’s task from the first request to a checked result. See where privacy, corrections and approval belong.
Example system designLocal / not connected
Connects to customer privacy
Connects to relevant information · the ai suggestion
The customer’s task to Customer privacy: Check the user and customer account.
Customer privacy to Relevant information: Limit access to permitted records.
Relevant information to The AI suggestion: Provide relevant permitted information.
Customer privacy to The AI suggestion: Limit what the AI may do.
The AI suggestion to Permitted actions: Validate the proposal.
Permitted actions to Check each release: Observe the task result.
Check each release to The customer’s task: Improve the product task.
DependencyEvidenceFeedback / recoveryChoose a step to learn more
Customer privacy
AUTH
The decision to make
Check which customer account and user are making the request before looking up information or taking action. Carry those access rules through searches, stored answers and connected tools.
What could go wrong
One customer sees another customer’s records through a search, a stored answer or a connected tool.
What to ask the team to show
Tests that try to cross between customer accounts.
A product idea, a broken workflow, scattered company knowledge or an integration others keep working around. Tell us what needs to change and what has already been tried.
