SmartRequestAI — Designing the Content Layer of an AI Tax Intake Feature
I owned the entire user-facing content layer of a 10-month AI product build — from field labels and error copy in the developer blueprint, to the workpaper template that became the product's primary output.
An AI feature with no dedicated UX designer
SmartRequestAI uses AI to scan a client's prior-year tax return, generate a personalized document request list, and auto-organize uploaded files into SmartVault — delivering prep-ready workpapers before tax preparation begins. The feature was scoped for a 10-month build with no dedicated UX designer on staff.
I stepped in as the content and UX lead. I sourced and onboarded an external UX designer, provided design direction throughout, and owned every word users would see — from the client-facing questionnaire to the accountant's output document.
An Excel file as the content model
The entire feature was built from a shared Excel blueprint — a structured file every developer, designer, and stakeholder worked from simultaneously. Engineering used it to build the data model and apply conditional logic. I used it to define every piece of content users would see: page titles, page descriptions, group labels, question text, field labels, and answer options across every tab of the feature.
This file was, functionally, a content model — structured fields with defined types, relationships, and conditional logic. Every label I wrote here rendered directly in the live product. Getting it right meant the product shipped right.
Writing for accountants and their clients simultaneously
The questionnaire served two audiences: accounting professionals who needed clean, structured data, and their clients — everyday taxpayers who needed reassurance and clarity. Every label had to work for both.
One deliberate decision: income source checkboxes include the IRS form numbers in parentheses — "Brokerage accounts (1099-B, Consolidated-1099, Brokerage statement)" — because clients receive physical documents with those form numbers. Matching the label to what they hold in their hands reduces confusion and increases upload accuracy.
Designing the output — a 38-page document built for how accountants work
The most visible deliverable wasn't a screen — it was a PDF workpaper used during tax preparation. I was shown a competitor's template as a starting point. It was functional but dense: multiple fields per row, difficult to scan under time pressure.
I asked a Customer Advisory Council member one question that changed everything:
"We don't care how long it is. We just want each field on one row so we can move faster."
One field per row. I also researched how accountants interact with paper — green bar paper has been the standard for financial record-keeping for decades, designed to reduce eye strain across long data columns. I chose green tones over SmartVault's corporate blue palette to signal familiarity to the people using it.
After iterating on several directions, the design was approved by my manager, the company president, and all Customer Advisory Council stakeholders. Product used my 38-page PDF as the definitive template for field mapping throughout development.
End-to-end content ownership through launch
Beyond the blueprint and workpaper, I wrote all onboarding flows, release notes, and knowledge base articles — and coordinated with Engineering to ensure copy rendered correctly in production on launch day. I also unified two separate features (Request Docs and SmartRequestAI) into a single Doc Requests landing page with tabbed navigation.
SmartRequestAI launched in November 2025, reclaiming 60–90 minutes per return for accounting firms processing hundreds of returns per season. The content layer — every label, question, error message, and output document — was designed and written entirely by me.