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Moha Intel

The first build failed in testing. The rebuild became a research workspace analysts trust.

Overview01/

The first version failed in testing. Users couldn't finish basic tasks. The rebuild turned an AI demo into a working research tool for analysts at three companies.

Role

Lead product designer. I owned what the product is. I owned the information architecture and the interaction patterns. I held them through every round of testing.

Team

Lead designer, researcher, frontend developer, backend developer

The challenge

AI chat resets with every session while research is continuous . Notes vanished, sources were untraceable, so analysts could never build on their own work.

The approach

Rebuild around four persistent surfaces . Show proof at every step. That means visible sources, save states, and version history.

Process02/
01/

The problem

Research is continuous; a chat window treats it as disposable.

D
Drive
No file context
E
Excel
Lost sources
W
WhatsApp
Chat buried
P
PowerPoint
Manual copy-paste
AI
AI Chat
No memory
N
Notes
No traceability
Diagnosis
Severity...
6Tools
0Connections
40%Time lost
Issues found0/6
02/

The first build failed

Analysts could not finish basic tasks. The reason was memory.

Version 1.0
Task completion failedcritical
Terminology confused usershigh
No persistencecritical
No session memoryhigh

Researchersneededmemory.

Image 1 of 2
03/

From chat to research workspace

Four persistent surfaces replaced the chat window: notes, writing, channels and sourced summaries.

Chat tool
01
Fast capture, always saved
02
Primary surface, everything stays visible
03
Organized threads by topic
04
Condensed insights with traceable sources
Image 1 of 4
04/

Validation

Tasks that failed in round one became routine, with sources cited with confidence.

Round 2 testing

Validation results

Save without thinkingWork disappeared between sessions
Find any sourceSources were untraceable
Build on yesterdayEach session started from zero
Trust the outputCouldn't distinguish human from AI
0/4 passed
Image 1 of 3
05/

Designing for trust

Clickable sources, save marks and version history, human input marked from AI output.

Trust architecture

You

Key risks of investing in Kumamoto?

AI

Population decline acceleratingTSMC inflates land values

Image 1 of 2
Reflections02/
  • Challenges1/3

    The hard problems were words, not technology. One wrong term derailed a whole task flow.

  • Insights2/3

    Analysts trusted it once it showed its reasoning.

  • What’s next3/3

    Shared channels, live co-editing and smarter memory.

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Moha Intel, AI research tool case study