Chronicle
Giving teams new tools to tell compelling stories.
Product Design
Design Engineering
AI Intergration
Chronicle
Giving teams new tools to tell compelling stories.
Product Design
Design Engineering
AI Intergration
Chronicle
Giving teams new tools to tell compelling stories.
Product Design
Design Engineering
AI Intergration
Chronicle
Giving teams new tools to tell compelling stories.
Product Design
Design Engineering
AI Intergration
Widgets and theming
Backgrounds
Colors
86%
Subscriptions annualized recurring revenue
Month on month
Fonts
Aa
Inter Regular
Logos
Tone of voice
Analytical, Considered, Restrained, Purposeful, Refined, Authoritative, Measured, Clear-eyed, No-nonsense, Polished, Focused, Deliberate, exacting, lean, sophisticated, grounded, lucid, matter-of-fact, composed, incisive
Challenges
At Chronicle, widgets are the core building blocks of every deck, the way users bring data, media, and narrative together on a slide. For enterprise marketing teams, sales teams, and founders who live and die by the quality of their presentations, the widget library is the palette they work from. For a period, that palette had not grown. New widget types were not being added, and the ones that existed had evolved independently of each other, resulting in fragmented configuration patterns and inconsistent behaviour across the product.
Users had very little ability to customise the visual style of their content or apply their brand in any meaningful way. Changing colours meant touching every element manually. There was no system for uploading logos, defining typography, or establishing a consistent visual identity that could carry across a deck. Teams were left to recreate their brand by hand every time, which made producing on-brand presentations slow, inconsistent, and heavily dependent on individual effort.
The stakes were higher than they might appear. Chronicle's AI engine, Muse, generates full presentations from prompts but it can only work with what exists in the product. A limited widget library meant a limited AI, and without a proper brand system, Muse had no understanding of who a user was or how their work should look. Every widget added and every brand capability built was not just a new tool for users, it was a new capability for the whole platform.
KEY CHALLENGES
01
The widget library had not grown meaningfully in some time
02
Configuration menus and interaction patterns were inconsistent across widget types
03
Users had no way to apply their brand consistently across a deck
04
The limited widget set constrained both users and Chronicle's AI engine, Muse
05
Improvements required navigating a complex frontend codebase with high standards for polish
Challenges
At Chronicle, widgets are the core building blocks of every deck, the way users bring data, media, and narrative together on a slide. For enterprise marketing teams, sales teams, and founders who live and die by the quality of their presentations, the widget library is the palette they work from. For a period, that palette had not grown. New widget types were not being added, and the ones that existed had evolved independently of each other, resulting in fragmented configuration patterns and inconsistent behaviour across the product.
Users had very little ability to customise the visual style of their content or apply their brand in any meaningful way. Changing colours meant touching every element manually. There was no system for uploading logos, defining typography, or establishing a consistent visual identity that could carry across a deck. Teams were left to recreate their brand by hand every time, which made producing on-brand presentations slow, inconsistent, and heavily dependent on individual effort.
The stakes were higher than they might appear. Chronicle's AI engine, Muse, generates full presentations from prompts but it can only work with what exists in the product. A limited widget library meant a limited AI, and without a proper brand system, Muse had no understanding of who a user was or how their work should look. Every widget added and every brand capability built was not just a new tool for users, it was a new capability for the whole platform.
KEY CHALLENGES
01
The widget library had not grown meaningfully in some time
02
Configuration menus and interaction patterns were inconsistent across widget types
03
Users had no way to apply their brand consistently across a deck
04
The limited widget set constrained both users and Chronicle's AI engine, Muse
05
Improvements required navigating a complex frontend codebase with high standards for polish
Challenges
At Chronicle, widgets are the core building blocks of every deck, the way users bring data, media, and narrative together on a slide. For enterprise marketing teams, sales teams, and founders who live and die by the quality of their presentations, the widget library is the palette they work from. For a period, that palette had not grown. New widget types were not being added, and the ones that existed had evolved independently of each other, resulting in fragmented configuration patterns and inconsistent behaviour across the product.
Users had very little ability to customise the visual style of their content or apply their brand in any meaningful way. Changing colours meant touching every element manually. There was no system for uploading logos, defining typography, or establishing a consistent visual identity that could carry across a deck. Teams were left to recreate their brand by hand every time, which made producing on-brand presentations slow, inconsistent, and heavily dependent on individual effort.
The stakes were higher than they might appear. Chronicle's AI engine, Muse, generates full presentations from prompts but it can only work with what exists in the product. A limited widget library meant a limited AI, and without a proper brand system, Muse had no understanding of who a user was or how their work should look. Every widget added and every brand capability built was not just a new tool for users, it was a new capability for the whole platform.
KEY CHALLENGES
01
The widget library had not grown meaningfully in some time
02
Configuration menus and interaction patterns were inconsistent across widget types
03
Users had no way to apply their brand consistently across a deck
04
The limited widget set constrained both users and Chronicle's AI engine, Muse
05
Improvements required navigating a complex frontend codebase with high standards for polish
Challenges
At Chronicle, widgets are the core building blocks of every deck, the way users bring data, media, and narrative together on a slide. For enterprise marketing teams, sales teams, and founders who live and die by the quality of their presentations, the widget library is the palette they work from. For a period, that palette had not grown. New widget types were not being added, and the ones that existed had evolved independently of each other, resulting in fragmented configuration patterns and inconsistent behaviour across the product.
Users had very little ability to customise the visual style of their content or apply their brand in any meaningful way. Changing colours meant touching every element manually. There was no system for uploading logos, defining typography, or establishing a consistent visual identity that could carry across a deck. Teams were left to recreate their brand by hand every time, which made producing on-brand presentations slow, inconsistent, and heavily dependent on individual effort.
The stakes were higher than they might appear. Chronicle's AI engine, Muse, generates full presentations from prompts but it can only work with what exists in the product. A limited widget library meant a limited AI, and without a proper brand system, Muse had no understanding of who a user was or how their work should look. Every widget added and every brand capability built was not just a new tool for users, it was a new capability for the whole platform.
KEY CHALLENGES
01
The widget library had not grown meaningfully in some time
02
Configuration menus and interaction patterns were inconsistent across widget types
03
Users had no way to apply their brand consistently across a deck
04
The limited widget set constrained both users and Chronicle's AI engine, Muse
05
Improvements required navigating a complex frontend codebase with high standards for polish
↑
Brand Kit is the creative foundation that powers every Chronicle deck. Set up your brand once and every presentation, whether built manually or generated by Muse, looks and feels like you.
Widgets and features
01
Charts
02
Brand kit
03
Image slider
04
Dynamic gradients
05
Tables
06
Metrics
Bringing data to decks for the first time, built in under a week.
Chronicle had no data visualisation capability before Charts. Using the AI-assisted workflow, a developer built the base data layer and I built the component layer on top. The whole thing came together in under a week. It has since become one of the most impactful additions to the product, giving users a fast and flexible way to bring data into their decks without leaving Chronicle.
Solution
I help build the tools in Chronicle that enable people to tell more dynamic stories. In practice that means working across design and engineering, writing and shipping production React and TypeScript code, iterating on polish directly in the codebase, and moving fluidly between Figma and the terminal. I work alongside a team of frontend developers in a workflow that evolved naturally over time. Developers handle the complex data layer and core functionality, I use AI-assisted coding to build on top of that foundation, they integrate it, and I return at the end to polish. Micro interactions, design system components, responsive layouts, the details that make a product feel considered rather than just functional. For a tool that is meant to help users make better design decisions, that standard of finish matters.
The first priority was consistency. I componentised the widget configuration system, creating shared patterns for menu panes and controls that now apply uniformly across every widget type. From that foundation, I designed and built a suite of new widgets and overhauled the theming system that ties them all together.
Solution
I help build the tools in Chronicle that enable people to tell more dynamic stories. In practice that means working across design and engineering, writing and shipping production React and TypeScript code, iterating on polish directly in the codebase, and moving fluidly between Figma and the terminal. I work alongside a team of frontend developers in a workflow that evolved naturally over time. Developers handle the complex data layer and core functionality, I use AI-assisted coding to build on top of that foundation, they integrate it, and I return at the end to polish. Micro interactions, design system components, responsive layouts, the details that make a product feel considered rather than just functional. For a tool that is meant to help users make better design decisions, that standard of finish matters.
The first priority was consistency. I componentised the widget configuration system, creating shared patterns for menu panes and controls that now apply uniformly across every widget type. From that foundation, I designed and built a suite of new widgets and overhauled the theming system that ties them all together.
Solution
I help build the tools in Chronicle that enable people to tell more dynamic stories. In practice that means working across design and engineering, writing and shipping production React and TypeScript code, iterating on polish directly in the codebase, and moving fluidly between Figma and the terminal. I work alongside a team of frontend developers in a workflow that evolved naturally over time. Developers handle the complex data layer and core functionality, I use AI-assisted coding to build on top of that foundation, they integrate it, and I return at the end to polish. Micro interactions, design system components, responsive layouts, the details that make a product feel considered rather than just functional. For a tool that is meant to help users make better design decisions, that standard of finish matters.
The first priority was consistency. I componentised the widget configuration system, creating shared patterns for menu panes and controls that now apply uniformly across every widget type. From that foundation, I designed and built a suite of new widgets and overhauled the theming system that ties them all together.
01
Charts
Title
Chronicle had no data visualisation capability before Charts. Using the AI-assisted workflow, a developer built the base data layer and I built the component layer on top. The whole thing came together in under a week. It has since become one of the most impactful additions to the product, giving users a fast and flexible way to bring data into their decks without leaving Chronicle.
02
Brand Kit
03
Image Slider
04
Dynamic Gradient
05
Tables
06
Metrics
Widgets and features
↑
An example presentation showcasing all the new widgets harmoniously together in a deck
Outcomes
The new widgets were adopted quickly and the variety of decks being produced in Chronicle expanded noticeably. Users were building richer, more dynamic presentations, combining data visualisations, media, and structured content in ways the product had not supported before.
One of the clearest signals of success is how Chronicle responds to user needs. Enterprise customers raise requests and, depending on scope, the team is able to turn them around rapidly. The Image Slider is the clearest example, a client asked for it, we built it fast, and it shipped into the product. That responsiveness makes customers feel genuinely heard and like part of building Chronicle rather than just using it.
Working across design and engineering throughout gave me a much tighter feedback loop than a traditional workflow would have allowed. Improvements moved from idea to production faster, and the quality of the output was higher because the person making the design decisions was also the one writing the code. The AI-assisted workflow made a pace possible that would have been difficult to sustain otherwise.
Outcomes
The new widgets were adopted quickly and the variety of decks being produced in Chronicle expanded noticeably. Users were building richer, more dynamic presentations, combining data visualisations, media, and structured content in ways the product had not supported before.
One of the clearest signals of success is how Chronicle responds to user needs. Enterprise customers raise requests and, depending on scope, the team is able to turn them around rapidly. The Image Slider is the clearest example, a client asked for it, we built it fast, and it shipped into the product. That responsiveness makes customers feel genuinely heard and like part of building Chronicle rather than just using it.
Working across design and engineering throughout gave me a much tighter feedback loop than a traditional workflow would have allowed. Improvements moved from idea to production faster, and the quality of the output was higher because the person making the design decisions was also the one writing the code. The AI-assisted workflow made a pace possible that would have been difficult to sustain otherwise.
Outcomes
The new widgets were adopted quickly and the variety of decks being produced in Chronicle expanded noticeably. Users were building richer, more dynamic presentations, combining data visualisations, media, and structured content in ways the product had not supported before.
One of the clearest signals of success is how Chronicle responds to user needs. Enterprise customers raise requests and, depending on scope, the team is able to turn them around rapidly. The Image Slider is the clearest example, a client asked for it, we built it fast, and it shipped into the product. That responsiveness makes customers feel genuinely heard and like part of building Chronicle rather than just using it.
Working across design and engineering throughout gave me a much tighter feedback loop than a traditional workflow would have allowed. Improvements moved from idea to production faster, and the quality of the output was higher because the person making the design decisions was also the one writing the code. The AI-assisted workflow made a pace possible that would have been difficult to sustain otherwise.
Credits
Role
Lead Product Designer
Client
Chronicle
Year
2026
2026
Team
Praveen Kumar
Akshit Bhardwaj
Jordan Lee
Claire Taylor
Other work
Other work
I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community.
I pay my respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. I pay my respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.