Design
Principles
Seven rules the design of Valere CRM holds to, each from the brief’s goals and the decisions: the reason, a piece of the product done right and the same piece done wrong, and the rule for its words.
One record, many views
Every figure on a screen is read from the Site’s records and says where it comes from; nothing is typed into a view.
The trackers go (G-01) and every KPI comes from the records, defined once (G-05); fees come from the Heads of Terms (D-009); one Site record behind every view (D-006).
G-01G-05D-006D-009S-03 §3
- Weighted fee pipeline
- £1,386,000
- £94,000Upvs last month · from the Heads of Terms of each Site
| Site | Next Action | Owner | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heron Fields | Chase the board date with Calder Valley Homes | DWDana Whitfield | Fri 6 Nov |
| Hatch Farm | Confirm the fee agreement is signed | JMJamie Morgan | Tue 10 Nov |
Every row is a live slice of the Site records; nothing is typed here.
The meeting board and the tile read the same records, and each says so.
- Pipeline
- £1,240,000
- Home
- Pipeline
- £1,386,000
- Executive dashboard
| Site | Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Church Farm |
Two tiles named alike disagree; a fee typed into the meeting drifts from the Heads of Terms.
Name the source in a few words: “from Heads of Terms”, “counted from logged calls”. Never “manual entry”.
Nothing changes without a named person
The system reads, drafts and proposes; a person, named on screen, accepts before anything moves, is sent or is saved.
Approval before effect, with the source and the confidence (N-08); AI output is advisory and the rules stay deterministic (D-023); who approves what is fixed (D-024, D-039).
N-08G-06D-015D-023D-024D-039
Source Hadley & Finch LLP email, 6 NovConfidence: High
Waits for Dana Whitfield, the owner of this field. Nothing changes on the record before then.
Drafted 07:00 · waits for Rhys Calloway’s approval
The change waits beside its source; the person who decides is named.
Deal Health 41: the buyer is losing interest.
A change nobody accepted, an AI reading with no source or confidence, a Send on a pack nobody approved.
Say who decides, by name: “Waits for Eleanor Shaw”, “Approved by Rhys Calloway, Mon 9 Nov 2026”. An AI output always carries its source and how sure it is.
Exceptions first, with the rule that fired
A screen opens on what is slipping and says which rule, which threshold and since when, so nothing stalls unseen and nothing fires as noise.
A stalled Site is visible the day it stalls (G-02); views lead with the exceptions (VIW-C26); the threshold applied is shown (D-033); alert noise is a named risk (RK-10).
G-02VIW-C26D-033RK-10
- Stalled Sites
- 2
- 1Upmore than last week
Threshold 14 days, changed 4 Nov 2026 · last contact Mon 26 Oct
Land contract draft, due Mon 26 Oct · with Hadley & Finch LLP
Two Sites, each with the rule, the number and the date it applies from.
| Site | State |
|---|---|
| Hatch Farm | On track |
| Orchard Lane | On track |
| Kingsmead | On track |
| Heron Fields | On track |
| Lea Bridge Works | At risk |
Green rows above the one that matters, and a badge that names no rule and no number.
State the rule and the number: “Stalled · no contact 14 d”. A count says what it counts: “3 decisions wait for you”.
Valere’s rules are Valere’s settings, shown where they act
Every threshold, band, weight and rate is the admin’s to change without a developer, and the screen that uses it shows the value and when it changed.
Self-sufficient after handover (G-07); everything that is a business rule is configurable (N-11, D-027); a change is previewed before it is saved (ADM-C18); no in-product help, so the screen explains itself (D-040).
G-07N-11D-027ADM-C18D-040
Now 14, changed 4 Nov 2026 by Tom Ashworth · allowed 5 to 30
No contact · threshold 10 days, changed 9 Nov
The value, the person and the date sit with the rule, and the effect is shown before Save.
Stalled (14 days)
A threshold that applies as it is typed, with no preview and no history; “14 days” written into a label.
Give the value, the date and the person: “Threshold 14 days, changed 4 Nov 2026”. A provisional value says so: “provisional formula”.
History is kept, never overwritten
A correction is a new version or an adjustment beside the old value; a locked week, a closed month, an approved appraisal and a rejected bid stay readable.
Audit with history never overwritten, closed months fixed (N-06); adjustments, never edits, and superseded packs kept (D-034); a move back needs a reason (D-021).
N-06D-034D-008D-021
Locked Mon 2 Nov · a correction is an adjustment
The locked value stays; the correction stands under it with its person, date and reason.
- Weighted fee pipeline · October (closed)
- £1,292,000
An Edit on a closed month, and a declined bid that disappears.
Say what is locked and how to correct it: “Week of 2 Nov locked · a correction is an adjustment”. Never “overwrite” or “delete” for a business record.
Each function owns its part, and the screen says whose it is
A field another function owns stays visible, read only, with the owner and the person to ask; what a role may not see is left out, never greyed.
One owner per behaviour (D-028, D-031); Land performance is for Partners / MD only (S-03 §2.3); the rule and the owner are named on screen; the handoffs between functions are the product’s point (G-04).
D-028D-031S-03 §2.3G-04
Buyers are owned by Partnerships. Ask Dana Whitfield to change them.
- PartnershipsBook the exchange callDW
- ConstructionAgree the CSA with Westbrook ConstructionCH
- LandConfirm the fee agreement is signedJM
The field says whose it is and whom to ask; every action has its function and its person.
- Chase the solicitor—
A greyed field with no word of why, a figure blurred to a role that may not see it, an action with no owner.
Name the function and the person: “Owned by Construction · Conor Higgins”. Use names, not pronouns: “Ben Okafor’s work goes to the cover”, not “his work”.
Made for the meeting table
Desktop first and usable on a tablet in the meeting room: a row opens in place and returns to the board, and the figures read across a room.
Desktop first, a tablet too, no phone in V1 (N-02); views under 2 seconds (N-03); a review runs from a tablet in Safari (VIW-C11); a row opens the Site’s live actions in place (D-033).
N-02N-03VIW-C11D-033
| Site | Next Action | Owner | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heron Fields | Chase the board date with Calder Valley Homes | DWDana Whitfield | Fri 6 Nov |
Heron Fields · live actions
Overdue 3 days
| |||
| Hatch Farm | Confirm the fee agreement is signed | JMJamie Morgan | Tue 10 Nov |
The row opens under itself; the chair closes it and the board is where it was.
The board is two pages back, scrolled to the top.
A row that leaves the board, controls that need a mouse, a chart nobody reads from the end of the table.
Labels short enough to read across the room: “Due this week”, “Lock week”. Times and dates in full where they decide something: “Locked Mon 9 Nov 2026, 15:15”.
The voice, in short
How every screen, flow and letter of Valere CRM speaks. The key screens, the flows and the email templates already follow it.
- Short sentences; a figure with its unit: “18 days without contact”, “£262,000”.
- Valere’s own terms, spelled as the glossary spells them: Site, Lead, Site Code, Coverage, Deal Health, Next Action, Stall rule, Heads of Terms, Preferred RP, Partners / MD, PM.
- People by name, never “the user”, and no gendered pronouns: “Call the landowner when back”, not “on his return”.
- UK dates as the screens write them: “Mon 9 Nov 2026”, “today”.
- An error says what to do next: “Add a reason to approve or decline”.
- An empty list says why it is empty and offers one action.
- The rule and its owner are named on screen.
- Nothing changes without a named person’s approval (N-08).
From plans/principles.md, approved on 4 Nov 2026; the reasons cite the blueprint’s goals (G-), needs (N-), decisions (D-) and capabilities, and the showcase’s decisions (SC-).