Stephen ReaProduct, design & AI strategy
Paper Accord presented as a glass product pane seated in walnut, with warm amber edge light
Paper Accord / A Paper Design product

Product intent.
Made accountable.

A calm workspace that connects the reason for the work to the evidence that it works.

Explore the productTry the prototype
Product strategy · UX · Design · Built MVP
01 / Why Accord

The backlog grows.
The purpose gets lost.

Product intent gets scattered across documents, tickets and conversations. Accord keeps purpose, jobs, stories, criteria and technical tasks connected — so the work has a reason, and “done” has a meaning.

MY ROLE
Product strategy, design & build
STATUS
Working local MVP
PRINCIPLE
Tasks complete ≠ criteria passed
TRY IT
Browser-local prototype
← Back to all work
02 / The product

See the purpose.
Follow the work.

Keep the overview in view while opening the detail. Move from a job to a story, its observable criteria and the tasks that make it real.

The Paper Accord workspace with project direction, linked jobs and a criterion work panel

Purpose → Jobs → Stories → Criteria → Technical tasks

Open this screen
03 / The moment that matters

Finishing the tasks
is only the beginning.

A checklist records activity. Verification asks whether the result is actually true. Accord keeps the two separate, then derives progress from the required work.

Inspect verification

Technical tasks

CompleteCreate project data model

CompleteBuild creation form

CompleteImplement persistence

Verify criterion
04 / Jobs & journeys

From product intent
to work you can stand behind.

Start with what someone needs to achieve. Make the outcome observable. Keep the path from intent to implementation visible as the product changes.

  1. 01Purpose
  2. 02Job to be done
  3. 03User story
  4. 04Criterion
  5. 05Technical task
Explore the jobs, user stories and journeys

Illustrative journeys / grounded in the MVP

01 / Start with a reason

Job to be done

When I start a product, I want the purpose to stay connected to the plan, so that the backlog does not become the strategy.

User story

As a product lead, I want to define a project purpose and vision before decomposing its work.

  1. 01Create project
  2. 02Define purpose & vision
  3. 03Add a job
  4. 04Write a story

Success: Direction and linked work remain intact when the project is reopened.

02 / Make “done” observable

Job to be done

When work is delivered, I want to check an observable result, so that completion means more than closing tasks.

User story

As a builder, I want technical tasks beneath a criterion and an explicit verification step.

  1. 01Open story
  2. 02Inspect criterion
  3. 03Complete tasks
  4. 04Verify criterion

Success: Completing tasks unlocks verification; the criterion passes only after a deliberate check.

03 / Change the plan, keep the thread

Job to be done

When priorities change, I want to adjust scope without losing context, so that the required work stays honest.

User story

As a product owner, I want to park work and understand how progress is recalculated.

  1. 01Select work
  2. 02Park with a reason
  3. 03Review required scope
  4. 04Unpark when ready

Success: Parked branches stay visible and leave required progress; changed criteria can require re-verification.

05 / AI — future direction

The right context.
A human decision.

The MVP has no AI. A useful next step would be assistance grounded in the project’s purpose, linked stories and current criteria — with suggestions that can be checked before they become work.

SUGGEST

Draft stories and testable criteria from the selected job.

CHECK

Flag ambiguity, missing links and conflicting criteria.

KEEP HUMAN

Review every change. Verification remains a deliberate human act.

Explore the AI direction

Proposed direction / not in the current MVP

Assist with the thinking. Preserve the sign-off.

Use only the selected project and its linked work as context. Show which purpose, job and story informed a suggestion. Present the change as a draft that the person can edit, accept or discard.

Context in

Selected project, purpose, vision and the current hierarchy.

Suggestion out

A story, clearer criterion, missing relationship or ambiguity to review.

Human control

No silent edits, no automatic criterion pass, no implied evidence. Verification stays with the person who checks the result.

06 / Try the prototype

Give “done”
a little more meaning.

A short, guided example: follow a job, inspect its criterion, complete a task and verify the result.

Try the prototypeWorking browser preview · fictional project data
Edits stay in this browser. No live projects or AI are connected.
  1. 01Follow the job
  2. 02Inspect the criterion
  3. 03Finish a technical task
  4. 04Verify the result
Try the guided preview here

For more room, open the prototype in its own window ↗.

07 / Product gallery

The product,
screen by screen.

Browse the workspace at your own pace. Open a screen to inspect the hierarchy, navigation and verification detail.

Purpose, jobs, stories, criteria and tasks remain linked in one workspace.01 / The connected overviewKeep the job in view as you move into its stories.02 / A job and its storiesCompleted tasks make a criterion ready for a deliberate verification step.03 / The verification momentParked work remains visible while required progress reflects the active scope.04 / Scope that can change
Browse all four product screens →
The outcome

An MVP built around
one connected thread.

Independent projects. Editable direction. Linked work. Explicit verification. A working product that makes the relationship between intention and delivery visible.

Got something worth
making better?

Let’s talk

Paper Accord product screen

Open original ↗
Paper Accord connected workspace