The opportunity
Begin with the person who has the questions.
A financial statement can tell someone what they own without helping them understand what to ask next. TotumAI saw an opportunity in the space between advisor meetings: a place to revisit unfamiliar language, explore a topic at a comfortable pace and gather thoughts before the next conversation.
The proposition centered on preparation. Angela would help people bring more of their own understanding and priorities into an existing advisory relationship.
The experience
Three clear places to begin.
Translate makes financial language more approachable. Research gives a question room to develop. Prepare turns that exploration toward the next advisor meeting.
Those choices give the app a purpose before a person types a prompt. Someone can start with a term they do not understand, bring a document into the discussion and collect questions they want to ask. The experience follows an everyday need from uncertainty toward a useful next step.
The design choice
Make room for different ways of understanding.
Angela begins by learning about a person’s preferred communication style. That profile informs how the conversation is presented, including its tone and level of detail.
A person can also move between modes within the same conversation. Exploring a topic can become meeting preparation without starting over. Personalization and continuity work toward the same aim: making it easier to stay with a question long enough to understand why it matters.
What it opened up
A consumer proposition people could try.
The working app gave TotumAI something concrete to put in front of users. Its educational approach now had a front door, a conversation and a meeting-preparation output. Beta review could address how the experience felt and where people needed clearer guidance.
That was the result of this phase: a product that could be experienced directly, with the next questions centered on usefulness, repeat use and demand.
What TotumAI brought
- Consumer insightThe audience, research and educational proposition.
- Product directionThe communication model and decisions about whom Angela should serve.
What Black Flag designed and built
- Business and experience designA consumer journey connecting understanding, exploration and preparation.
- The working productThe web app, onboarding, conversations and meeting-preparation experience.
The wider idea
Design for participation.
A consumer app can earn its place by helping someone take part in a consequential conversation. Here, the useful endpoint is a question the person understands and wants to ask. Financial judgment stays with the consumer and their advisor; the product creates room to arrive better prepared.