Evolv Intelligence: The Future of Risk Simulations

Evolv Intelligence was envisioned as Archer’s next flagship product: a world-class simulation platform positioned to be the company’s top seller and a game-changer for its largest clients. Before development could move forward, the CEO needed proof that the concept could succeed. I was asked to lead the effort, as one stakeholder put it, “I don’t have anyone on my team who can do this with the speed, accuracy, and detail that you will.”

What began as a rapid proof of concept quickly expanded into an end-to-end design effort that balanced innovation with usability, ultimately laying the groundwork for Archer’s most ambitious product launch in two decades.

1. Proof of Concept (3-Day Rapid Prototype)

I led the design of a rapid prototype that would secure CEO buy-in. With little time for discovery, I studied the product requirements document, mapped user flows, and focused on creating the simplest simulation builder possible. I leaned on my knowledge of executive buyers and risk leaders as proxy users and defined two distinct pathways: “Do it for me” and “Do it myself.” Partnering with a visual designer, I balanced the need for striking UI with usability.

First Prototype: Built in 3 days.

The outcome was a clickable Figma prototype presented to the CEO. The response was emphatic:

2. Preparing the Sprint to Summit

With the prototype validated, development teams began feasibility planning. I used this time to research the compliance side of the acquired product, study the existing UI component library to ensure rapid development was feasible, and build reusable components in Figma. I also created early visual iterations, supported the sales team with demo materials, and held conversations with SMEs, designers, and developers to deepen my understanding of compliance in relation to risk.

We framed our design goals through a UX lens:

3. Design Sprints (5 Sprints, 2 Weeks Each)

Over ten weeks, I collaborated with stakeholders and developers across five tightly scoped design sprints. Each sprint was shaped by shifting priorities and the absence of a single product owner — a challenge that required constant alignment, flexibility, and clear decision-making.

SPRINT 1

AI & User Confidence: The Simulation Builder

Balancing agent automated tasks with user agency was the core challenge of the first sprint. I designed an interaction model where AI selections were visible and traceable, not hidden behind opaque logic. Visual cues like animated maps, inline markups, and color-coded states made the AI’s reasoning legible, giving users confidence that they could trust automation while staying in control of their decisions.

SPRINT 2

From Data to Story: The Results Framework

This sprint focused on transforming simulation outputs into decision-ready stories. I designed a results framework that balanced calculation precision with human readability, enabling leadership teams to understand impact at a glance. The component system prioritized clarity, repeatability, and credibility, turning data into insight that could drive strategic action.

SPRINT 3

Fidelity & Flow: Sales-Ready Prototype

To translate design vision into something tangible, I created a high-fidelity, fully navigable Figma prototype optimized for sales demos and executive reviews. Every interaction reflected the final product experience while protecting performance stability. I introduced structured handoff layers, embedded dev notes, and visual consistency rules, ensuring the prototype looked real, behaved reliably, and could scale into production.

SPRINT 4

From Overload to Clarity: Regulation Simulation

With over 1.2 million regulations to model, simplicity became strategy. I designed a layered recommendation system that filtered data dynamically based on user context, surfacing only what mattered for each user. Progressive disclosure and card-based patterns guided exploration without overwhelm, transforming regulatory sprawl into intuitive, decision-ready intelligence.

SPRINT 5

Tested to Polish: QA + Audit

The final sprint focused on refinement and readiness as we prepared for the Summit. I led a detailed UX audit, aligning interaction patterns, writing tone, and component consistency across the experience. Paired with usability testing, these efforts revealed key opportunities to simplify flow and strengthen comprehension. A prioritized backlog kept focus on stability first, usability second, and enhancements last, ensuring the product launched smooth, credible, and keynote-ready.

4. Backlog & Future UX Strategy

Following the Summit, I led synthesis of post-demo interviews with sales engineers, transforming their feedback into a structured UX strategy. Using a FigJam-based impact/ease matrix, we mapped out high-priority fixes, future feature requests, and longer-term research needs. This strategy document outlined:

• Immediate UX fixes for demo and product
• General findings across user testing
• Requested use cases and scenario types
• Areas requiring additional UX research (usability + discovery)

5. Outcomes

The project earned executive validation from the start. The CEO called Evolv Intelligence “the most innovative design in Archer’s 20-year history.” At Summit, qualitative feedback from prospects was overwhelmingly positive, stakeholders noted that the product represented “the push we need to adopt SaaS,” and praised the visual design, clear exports (especially PDF summaries), and ease of use.

Multiple interviewees emphasized that “no other tool does this”, particularly in terms of balancing scenario complexity with decision-ready outputs. The excitement translated into real development momentum, with engineering teams committing to feasibility planning, and design artifacts like the component library and backlog strategy serving as foundational tools for implementation.

Conclusion

This project demonstrates the impact of combining rapid prototyping with long-term design leadership. What began as a three-day proof of concept grew into a robust, end-to-end product design effort — one that balanced innovation with clarity, built trust across executive and user audiences, and established the foundation for Archer’s most ambitious product launch to date.