ProblemAdvisors gather slides from many firms, then can’t find them again BuiltA library to find a slide, make it yours, and take it along

Why

The material existed. Finding it, and making it theirs, did not.

The structure

Three kinds of content, because advisors reach for them for different reasons.

The calls kept coming back to three archetypes. Every one had to be searchable, modular so a slide could be reused, and taggable and savable per advisor.

• Evergreen

  What

  Core education, timeless. Dimensional’s philosophy, the logic of asset allocation.

  Topics

  Investment concepts, wealth management, types of accounts, taxes and estate planning, financial plans and discipline.

• Topical issues

  What

  Reactive to current events. A market dip, an election’s impact.

  Topics

  Tariffs, market volatility, recessions, the Fed and inflation, Bitcoin, AI and the Magnificent 7, international investing, government debt, “it’s different this time”.

• Periodic reports

  What

  Regular updates advisors send out. Quarterly reviews, performance reports.

  Topics

  The overall portfolio; stocks (U.S., international developed, emerging markets); bonds; other.

The three doors on the home page. On hover the category’s colour lights the bar and the picture gives way to the line from the brief that says what is inside; the system, further down, shows both states.

How it was made

From a first call to two rounds of screens.

1. ICalls with ApolloThe ask: a proof of concept to show the company how it would look, how it would work, and why it is worth building.
2. IIA roadmap firstBefore designing, a proposal: the steps, the design process, the expected outcome. Then the resources he sent, before-and-after reports among them.
3. IIIThe visionAdvisor empowerment, the three archetypes, a slide library, and a workflow to simulate: find, save, reuse, send.
4. IVPen firstThe layout after login, the dashboard’s three groups, and every drill-down, drawn in a notebook before Figma.
5. VRound oneA Dimensional-branded website: home, My Decks, and the deck editor.
6. VIRound two, and the appThe feedback applied, a neutral brand, the three category pages, the topic pop-ups, and four app screens.

Pen first

Every screen drawn before it was designed.

Four pages from my notebook, May 2025: the layout after login, the main page, a topic opened, and a report followed down to a single slide. Each opens at full size.

Round two

One list of notes, and a calmer second round.

Round one carried Dimensional’s name and red. The notes that came back were specific, so the second round could be quiet: a neutral brand, bigger doors, and less on the page. Scroll inside each.

Round one · Dimensional

Round two · CIQ+

1. 1Everything with DFA in it came off. The concept took a neutral name, CIQ+ (ClarityIQ+), and a navy of its own.
2. 2The sidebar stays open at all times, so nothing piles up above the content.
3. 3The three report types, as big as possible, each with a picture of its own, chosen for what the category feels like.
4. 4Colour on hover. Each door lights in its own colour, and its shadow picks the colour up.
5. 5Plainer words. Latest Reports became Latest Posts; Share with Client became Client Letters.
6. 6The issue brief as a pop-up, with a smaller graphic, a summary of the report, and a layout that reads at a glance.

The design

Find it, open it, present it, take it along.

1 2 3 4 5

01Search first, then three doors.

1. 1Search is the first thing on the page, centred and wide: by topic, format or question. The brief said finding content had to be easy, and this is where that starts.
2. 2Filters sit inside the bar rather than in a separate panel, so narrowing a search is one step from typing it.
3. 3Three doors, as big as the page allows: Evergreen, Topical Issues and Periodic Reports, each with its own colour and picture.
4. 4Latest Posts in a scrolling box beneath, every card tagged and dated, with Explore, Save and Preview on the card itself.
5. 5The sidebar never closes: My Dashboard (create a deck, my decks, periodic reports, drafts, uploads, favourites, shared with me, the app), then Tools and Account.

1 2 3 4

02One topic, four ways to use it.

1. 1A topic opens over the page instead of leaving it: a title, one line on what it covers, and its tags.
2. 2The latest issue up front, with the date it was last updated, because for a topical issue the date is the point.
3. 3The issue brief to read up, and the slides to present.
4. 4A sketch or video to explain it, and client letters to follow up: four doors from the notes, so an advisor prepares, presents and writes from one place.

1 2 3 4 5

03Down to the slide, ready to present.

1. 1Every slide keeps a space for the advisor’s own logo. The deliverable is a PowerPoint the firm can put its name on.
2. 2The narrative under the slide: what the chart is saying, in sentences.
3. 3Talking points, so the advisor knows what to say as well as what to show.
4. 4A version switch, animated or static, for a screen or for print.
5. 5Add the current slide, or the set, to a deck: the slide library the brief asked for, one step from the slide.

1 2 3 4 5

04Make the deck theirs.

1. 1The deck on the left changes as the parameters on the right change: the advisor sees the result, not a form.
2. 2Who it is for: the client by name, and a profile. First-time investor, nearing retirement, high net worth, institution, or a label of their own.
3. 3How it should sound: Simple, Balanced or Technical. Then which slides to include.
4. 4A message to go with it, written for the client: generate an intro, or personalise it for them.
5. 5The firm’s identity, colour, font and logo, applied to every slide. This is round one, before the Dimensional branding came off.

1 2 3 4

05The library in a pocket.

1. 1Home opens on one featured article, with its date, topic and reading time, then the latest reports.
2. 2Each report card carries its tags and two actions: Customize, and save.
3. 3A report opens with an AI summary in four bullets, and a link that generates talking points.
4. 4Listen: the side rail reads the points aloud, so an advisor can take a report in on the way to work, the way they would a podcast.

1 2 3 4

06And the editor, in one column.

1. 1The same editor as the website, folded into one column, with Edit, Preview, Download and Share along the top.
2. 2Simple, Balanced, Technical: one control for how the deck speaks.
3. 3Identity on its own screen: the firm’s colour, font and logo.
4. 4The message to the client, generated or personalised for them by name.

The system

A navy for trust, and one colour per kind of content.

The components behind both rounds: the three doors and their hover states, the report card saved and unsaved, the sidebar open and collapsed, the featured article, and the two kinds of pop-up. Set in SF Pro Display, with white space doing most of the work.

• Navy#10324D · The brand, buttons, the footer
• Ink#414141 · Text
• Evergreen#30C000 · Timeless material
• Topical#F78000 · Current events
• Periodic#007FCF · Regular reports
• Line#DFDFDF · Dividers, quiet borders

Outcome

A proof of concept, and where it stopped.

• 2rounds of the websiteFrom a Dimensional-branded first round to a neutral second, on one list of notes.
• 3kinds of contentEvergreen, Topical and Periodic, with eighteen topics mapped beneath them.
• 4app screensHome, a report with its AI summary, and the editor in two parts.

1. 1What it was. A proof of concept for an internal proposal: the idea made visible enough for leadership to judge, at the fidelity the brief asked for.
2. 2Who it was for. Internal stakeholders first, advisors later. The tone the notes set: calm, authoritative, not flashy.
3. 3Where it stopped. At the concept stage, before approval. None of it was built.
4. 4What it left open. Every slide was meant to come with audio, a video or animation, and a transcript: the hardest part technically, and the first thing a real build would have to solve.