Bindu Prahlad
Three Words.
A Year
Of Work.
Six steps. Under two weeks.
SAUDI GIGA-PROJECT / DISCOVERY SYSTEM
I led a small team through three days of preparation, ran one morning in a room with twenty people, and had a twelve-week discovery agreed six days after that.
SECTOR
Tourism
MARKET
Saudi Arabia
MY ROLE
Design Lead
STAKEHOLDERS
Client Executives
TOOLS
Gemini · Figma · Miro
THE BRIEF · THREE WORDS
“Travel trade portal.”
Three words. That was the whole brief.
01 · BENCHMARK
Benchmark
02 · PERSONAS · JOURNEYS
Lo-Fi Journeys
03 · DERIVED
Feature Set
04 · DERIVED
Information Architecture
05 · ONE ROOM
Phases, MVP, Backlog
THE REAL PROBLEM
The problem was not discovery. It was the cost of discovery.
Conventional discovery would have taken months. The client had neither the months nor the appetite to fund them without evidence. Three words, a newly formed client team, and a room of twenty waiting for someone to give them a direction. That someone was me.
So I changed the question: how do we compress the work without compressing the thinking?
001
Saudi Partner
002
Visit Qatar
003
Visit Dubai
004
AlUla Specialist
005
Diriyah
006
Disney Travel Agents
007
Universal Partner
008
Lemax
009
Juniper
010
GP Solutions
011
Simpleview
012
Salesforce
013
Prioticket
014
Dedicated login
015
Unified SSO
016
Booking / marketplace
017
Bulk ticketing
018
Supplier onboarding
019
Co-op marketing
020
Concierge / itinerary
021
Asset library
022
E-learning
023
Events
024
Booking engine
025
Dynamic packaging
026
Bulk tickets
027
Markup calculator
028
Offer submission
029
Approval workflow
030
Asset management
031
Event calendar
032
Itinerary builder
033
LMS
034
SSO
035
Agency advisor
036
Tour operator PM
037
OTA partnerships
038
DMC operations
039
DMC events
040
Provider commercial
041
Corporate organiser
042
Government procurement
043
Governance manager
044
Asset owner
045
RFP to debrief
046
Package a family trip
047
Price inventory
048
Bulk buy for a school
049
Onboard as a partner
050
Approve an offer
051
Learn and certify
052
Browse inventory
053
Real-time availability
054
Multi-item cart
055
Checkout & payment
056
Booking management
057
Group & MICE booking
058
Package configurator
059
Packaging engine
060
Customer bundles
061
Combine assets
062
External packages
063
City-wide distribution
064
Bulk ticket purchase
065
Voucher management
066
Gift cards & promos
067
Markup calculator
068
Dynamic pricing
069
Margin rules
070
Confidential net rates
071
Deal submission
072
Multi-step approvals
073
Real-time deals
074
Asset owner deals
075
Cross-sell engine
076
Venues & services
077
Filter, sort & search
078
Venue detail & specs
079
Rate parity
080
Credit & deposits
081
Multi-currency payment
082
Settlement
083
Refunds
084
E-invoicing and VAT
085
Training content
086
Interactive learning
087
Certifications
088
Learning paths
089
Group learning
090
Download resources
091
Knowledge hub
092
Knowledge resources
093
Search knowledge
094
Featured content
095
Learning notifications
096
Asset library
097
Bulk download
098
Filter, sort & search
099
Gated asset access
100
Events calendar
101
RSVP & registration
102
My events
103
Past event highlights
104
Event management sync
105
Digital concierge
106
Interactive map
107
Co-marketing intent
108
Co-marketing requests
109
SSO gateway
110
Unified partner ID
111
CRM integration
112
Role-based access
113
B2G access
114
Partner registration
115
Partner onboarding
116
Accreditation
117
Team management
118
Partner dashboard
119
Supplier dashboard
120
Partner insights
121
Admin dashboard
122
Back-office offers
123
Partner performance
124
Partner quality checks
125
B2B loyalty
126
Rewards system
127
Perks & membership
128
Multilingual support
129
Notification centre
130
Ticketing integration
131
Provider connectivity
132
Partner connectivity
133
Inventory sync
134
Data residency
135
Arabic RTL UI
136
Accessibility
137
Licence verification
138 Saudi Partner
139 Visit Qatar
140 Visit Dubai
141 AlUla Specialist
142 Diriyah
143 Disney Travel Agents
144 Universal Partner
145 Lemax
146 Juniper
147 GP Solutions
148 Simpleview
149 Salesforce
150 Prioticket
151 Dedicated login
152 Unified SSO
153 Booking / marketplace
154 Bulk ticketing
155 Supplier onboarding
156 Co-op marketing
157 Concierge / itinerary
158 Asset library
159 E-learning
160 Events
161 Booking engine
162 Dynamic packaging
163 Bulk tickets
164 Markup calculator
165 Offer submission
166 Approval workflow
167 Asset management
168 Event calendar
169 Itinerary builder
170 LMS
171 SSO
172 Agency advisor
173 Tour operator PM
174 OTA partnerships
175 DMC operations
176 DMC events
177 Provider commercial
178 Corporate organiser
179 Government procurement
I decided.
What matters.
What survives.
What connects.
What gets prioritised.
What gets built.
THE RULE, SAID ONCE
AI produced.
Everything below came from AI across the six steps: 13 platforms benchmarked, 21 capabilities, 10 personas, 7 journeys, 86 candidate stories. In hours, not weeks.
THE RULE, SAID ONCE
None of it was research until I read it. At every step the decision stayed with me, and the page marks where.
STEP 01 · BENCHMARK
Thirteen platforms, twenty-one capabilities.
Before asking the client what they wanted, I established what the market already expects a trade portal to do. I set AI on seven destination portals and six platform builders, logged-in pages included, and chose the twenty-one capabilities worth scoring. AI did the reading in a day. I decided what counted.
THE MATRIX · 7 DESTINATION PORTALS × 10 CAPABILITIES · PUBLIC PLATFORMS
THE CALL
No single product covered commerce, marketing and learning at once. Ours would have to. That became the brief.
STEP 02 · PERSONAS → JOURNEYS
Ten personas. Seven journeys, drawn lo-fi.
I derived the ten personas from the benchmark rather than a brainstorm: who actually buys, bundles, lists and approves on a trade portal. I chose seven journeys for the widest coverage of what the portal must do, and had each drawn as low-fidelity screens with Figma AI so the room could react to something real.
10 PERSONAS
Agency advisor
Tour operator PM
OTA partnerships
DMC operations
DMC events
Provider commercial
Corporate organiser
Government procurement
Governance manager
Asset owner
● PRIMARY ● INTERNAL ○ SECONDARY
PERSONA E · MICE
Layla
DMC account manager, events and incentives. Sells the destination to corporate buyers.
JOURNEY 1 OF 7 · CORPORATE INCENTIVE, 300 GUESTS, 4 NIGHTS
From RFP to post-event debrief, and what the portal must provide at each stage.
STAGE 1
RFP received
RFP INBOX
STAGE 2
Site inspection
FAM BOOKING
STAGE 3
Proposal
VENUE SPECS
STAGE 4
Contracting
RATE SHEET
STAGE 5
Arrival
AIRPORT PROTOCOL
STAGE 6
Daily execution
ESCALATION LINE
STAGE 7
Troubleshooting
FLEX PROTOCOL
STAGE 8
Debrief
FEEDBACK LOOP
PAIN POINTS
Last-minute headcount changes
Tight margins
Weather contingency
Multi-supplier coordination
JOURNEY 1 OF 7 · EIGHT STAGES · WHAT THE PORTAL MUST PROVIDE AT EACH
THE CALL
Journeys, not personas, as the organising unit. Jobs that had to happen, not people who looked good on a slide.
STEP 03 · FEATURES → ARCHITECTURE
Eighty-six stories, twenty-two epics, four themes.
I had every journey expanded into candidate features and grouped into an information architecture: Commercial, Educational, Promotional, Administrative and Platform. AI drafted the long list and the first grouping. I kept only what a journey could justify, and traced every story back to the one that needed it.
JOURNEYS
FEATURES
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
7
JOURNEYS
86
STORIES
22
EPICS
4
THEMES
THE CALL
“Nothing entered the backlog without a journey that needed it.”
STEP 04 · THE WORKSHOP · ONE MORNING
Twenty people. Three and a half hours. One decision room.
AGENDA · 09:00 – 12:30
Introductions
Current
Benchmark
Business goals
Target users
Features
MVP
Wrap-up
VALIDATED AND VOTED, BLOCK BY BLOCK
Client executives, product owners, technology, commercial and operations in one room. I framed each block as a decision, held every feature to the journey that needed it, and let the room vote rather than debate. Scope that had no journey did not survive the morning.
CANDIDATE STORIES
86
→
41
IN THE MVP
39 TO PHASE 2 · 6 TO THE NORTH STAR · NOTHING DELETED
STEP 05 · PRIORITISED · FOUR DAYS AFTER THE ROOM
Eighty-six, read in full.
I wrote up the room into a backlog the client could take into build: forty-one stories in the MVP, thirty-nine phased to a second release, six held for the North Star, every one carrying its source, its journey and its phase.
Browse & search inventory
Real-time availability
Cart & multi-item booking
Checkout, reservation & payment
Booking management
Group & MICE booking flow
Package configurator (E2E)
Dynamic packaging engine
Bundle creation for final customer
Combine multiple destination assets
Combine with external packages
Distribute packages across the city
Bulk ticket purchase
Voucher distribution & management
Gift cards & promo codes
Markup calculator
Dynamic pricing
Margin rules by asset owner
Confidential net rates / role-based pricing
Offer & deal submission
Approval workflow (single/multi)
Real-time deal management
Deal management with asset owners
Cross-sell / upsell engine
List of venues & services
Filtering, sorting & search
Venue detail & specs
Rate parity and fencing
Credit terms and deposits
Multi-currency payment
Reconciliation and settlement
Refunds and cancellations
E-invoicing and VAT
Access training content
Interactive learning & progress
Certification programmes
Suggested learning paths
Group learning management
Save & download resources
City & asset knowledge hub
Knowledge resources
Search & filter knowledge
Featured content
Notification centre (educational)
Asset library
Single & bulk download
Filtering, sorting & search
Emerging assets access (gated)
Events calendar
RSVP & registration
My events
Past event highlights
Centralised event management integration
Itinerary builder / digital concierge
Interactive map
Co-marketing intent capture
Manage co-marketing requests
SSO gateway
Unified partner ID
CRM integration
Role-based access
B2G differentiated access
Partner registration
Partner onboarding
Qualification / accreditation
Profile & team management
Partner dashboard
Supplier dashboard
Performance insights for partners
Administrator dashboard
Back-office offer & package management
Partner performance & sales monitoring
Assess partner quality (voice of customer)
B2B loyalty / membership
Rewards system
Perks, benefits & membership card
Multilingual support
Global notification centre
Asset ticketing integration
Provider connectivity (channel manager / API)
Partner connectivity (OTA / operator API)
Inventory source of truth and sync
Data protection and residency
Right-to-left Arabic UI
Accessibility
Partner licensing verification
41
MVP
39
PHASE 2
6
NORTH STAR
STEP 06 · AGREED · SIX DAYS AFTER THE ROOM
A twelve-week discovery, agreed.
I turned the week into a plan the client could run rather than a deck: eight streams, two decision gates, a midpoint and a final readout, an eight-week option, and two team scenarios costed week by week. I walked the client team through it, and they agreed it as the next phase.
W1
W2
W3
W4
W5
W6
W7
W8
W9
W10
W11
W12
Mobilisation
Short-term needs
Strategy & business
Demand research
Benchmark
Technology
Experience design
Synthesis
GATE 1
GATE 2
MIDPOINT
FINAL READOUT
10
PEOPLE · IDEAL TEAM
6
PEOPLE · MINIMUM TEAM
8
WEEKS · COMPRESSED OPTION
WHAT I CHANGED
3 Days
of preparation, a small team
↓
1 Morning
twenty people, one decision room
↓
86 → 41
stories prioritised, forty-one in the MVP
↓
12 Weeks
of discovery agreed six days later
↓
5 Products
have run on the same method since
The Method Scaled.
AFTER DAY 06 · THE OPERATING MODEL
One Method.
METHOD
GOLF WEBSITE
STUDIO WEBSITE
TRAVEL TRADE PORTAL
THIS CASE
CORPORATE SITE
CITY WEBSITE
I built it for one brief.
I have run it on five products since, in delivery and in pitches, and it is now how my team opens a discovery.
WHAT I BRING
Undefined briefs become fundable plans.
Three words to a twelve-week discovery the client agreed to run, in under two weeks.
AI works under design judgment, not instead of it.
I decide what AI is allowed to produce and what stays human. The speed comes from the first, the plan from the second.
The method outlives the project.
One discovery became the way my team opens every discovery and pitch. Five products so far.
THE LESSON
The Biggest
Acceleration
Wasn’t
AI.
It was knowing what not to automate.
AI gave us more hours.
Design judgment gave those hours direction.
That is the part I am most proud of.
Stay curious. Keep moving.
Three Words.
A Year
Of Work.
Six steps. Under two weeks.
SAUDI GIGA-PROJECT / DISCOVERY SYSTEM
I led a small team through three days of preparation, ran one morning in a room with twenty people, and had a twelve-week discovery agreed six days after that.
SECTOR
Tourism
MARKET
Saudi Arabia
MY ROLE
Design Lead
STAKEHOLDERS
Client Executives
TOOLS
Gemini · Figma · Miro
THE BRIEF · THREE WORDS
“Travel trade portal.”
No goals, no users, no scope. That was the brief.
01 · BENCHMARK
Benchmark
02 · PERSONAS · JOURNEYS
Lo-Fi Journeys
03 · DERIVED
Feature Set
04 · DERIVED
Information Architecture
05 · ONE ROOM
Phases, MVP, Backlog
THE REAL PROBLEM
The problem was not discovery. It was the cost of discovery.
Conventional discovery would have taken months. The client had neither the months nor the appetite to fund them without evidence. Three words, a newly formed client team, and a room of twenty waiting for someone to give them a direction. That someone was me.
So I changed the question: how do we compress the work without compressing the thinking?
THE RULE, SAID ONCE
AI produced.
Everything below came from AI across the six steps: 13 platforms benchmarked, 21 capabilities, 10 personas, 7 journeys, 86 candidate stories. In hours, not weeks.
001
Saudi Partner
002
Visit Qatar
003
Visit Dubai
004
AlUla Specialist
005
Diriyah
006
Disney Travel Agents
007
Universal Partner
008
Lemax
009
Juniper
010
GP Solutions
011
Simpleview
012
Salesforce
013
Prioticket
014
Dedicated login
015
Unified SSO
016
Booking / marketplace
017
Bulk ticketing
018
Supplier onboarding
019
Co-op marketing
020
Concierge / itinerary
021
Asset library
022
E-learning
023
Events
024
Booking engine
025
Dynamic packaging
026
Bulk tickets
027
Markup calculator
028
Offer submission
029
Approval workflow
030
Asset management
031
Event calendar
032
Itinerary builder
033
LMS
034
SSO
035
Agency advisor
036
Tour operator PM
037
OTA partnerships
038
DMC operations
039
DMC events
040
Provider commercial
041
Corporate organiser
042
Government procurement
043
Governance manager
044
Asset owner
045
RFP to debrief
046
Package a family trip
047
Price inventory
048
Bulk buy for a school
049
Onboard as a partner
050
Approve an offer
051
Learn and certify
052
Browse inventory
053
Real-time availability
054
Multi-item cart
055
Checkout & payment
056
Booking management
057
Group & MICE booking
058
Package configurator
059
Packaging engine
060
Customer bundles
061
Combine assets
062
External packages
063
City-wide distribution
064
Bulk ticket purchase
065
Voucher management
066
Gift cards & promos
067
Markup calculator
068
Dynamic pricing
069
Margin rules
070
Confidential net rates
071
Deal submission
072
Multi-step approvals
073
Real-time deals
074
Asset owner deals
075
Cross-sell engine
076
Venues & services
077
Filter, sort & search
078
Venue detail & specs
079
Rate parity
080
Credit & deposits
081
Multi-currency payment
082
Settlement
083
Refunds
084
E-invoicing and VAT
085
Training content
086
Interactive learning
087
Certifications
088
Learning paths
089
Group learning
090
Download resources
091
Knowledge hub
092
Knowledge resources
093
Search knowledge
094
Featured content
095
Learning notifications
096
Asset library
097
Bulk download
098
Filter, sort & search
099
Gated asset access
100
Events calendar
101
RSVP & registration
102
My events
103
Past event highlights
104
Event management sync
105
Digital concierge
106
Interactive map
107
Co-marketing intent
108
Co-marketing requests
109
SSO gateway
110
Unified partner ID
111
CRM integration
112
Role-based access
113
B2G access
114
Partner registration
115
Partner onboarding
116
Accreditation
117
Team management
118
Partner dashboard
119
Supplier dashboard
120
Partner insights
121
Admin dashboard
122
Back-office offers
123
Partner performance
124
Partner quality checks
125
B2B loyalty
126
Rewards system
127
Perks & membership
128
Multilingual support
129
Notification centre
130
Ticketing integration
131
Provider connectivity
132
Partner connectivity
133
Inventory sync
134
Data residency
135
Arabic RTL UI
136
Accessibility
137
Licence verification
THE RULE, SAID ONCE
I decided.
None of it was research until I read it. At every step the decision stayed with me, and the page marks where.
What matters.
What survives.
What connects.
What gets prioritised.
What gets built.
STEP 01 · BENCHMARK
Thirteen platforms, twenty-one capabilities.
Before asking the client what they wanted, I established what the market already expects a trade portal to do. I set AI on seven destination portals and six platform builders, logged-in pages included, and chose the twenty-one capabilities worth scoring. AI did the reading in a day. I decided what counted.
THE MATRIX · 7 DESTINATION PORTALS × 10 CAPABILITIES
THE CALL
No single product covered commerce, marketing and learning at once. Ours would have to. That became the brief.
STEP 02 · PERSONAS → JOURNEYS
Ten personas. Seven journeys, drawn lo-fi.
I derived the ten personas from the benchmark rather than a brainstorm: who actually buys, bundles, lists and approves on a trade portal. I chose seven journeys for the widest coverage of what the portal must do, and had each drawn as low-fidelity screens with Figma AI so the room could react to something real.
10 PERSONAS
Agency advisor
Tour operator PM
OTA partnerships
DMC operations
DMC events
Provider commercial
Corporate organiser
Government procurement
Governance manager
Asset owner
PERSONA E · MICE
Layla
JOURNEY 1 OF 7 · CORPORATE INCENTIVE
STAGE 1
RFP received
STAGE 2
Site inspection
STAGE 3
Proposal
STAGE 4
Contracting
STAGE 5
Arrival
STAGE 6
Daily execution
STAGE 7
On-site fixes
STAGE 8
Debrief
PAIN POINTS
Headcount changes
Tight margins
Weather
Suppliers
JOURNEY 1 OF 7 · EIGHT STAGES
THE CALL
Journeys, not personas, as the organising unit. Jobs that had to happen, not people who looked good on a slide.
STEP 03 · FEATURES → ARCHITECTURE
Eighty-six stories, twenty-two epics, four themes.
I had every journey expanded into candidate features and grouped into an information architecture: Commercial, Educational, Promotional, Administrative and Platform. AI drafted the long list and the first grouping. I kept only what a journey could justify, and traced every story back to the one that needed it.
JOURNEYS
FEATURES
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
7
JOURNEYS
86
STORIES
22
EPICS
4
THEMES
THE CALL
“Nothing entered the backlog without a journey that needed it.”
STEP 04 · THE WORKSHOP · ONE MORNING
Twenty people. Three and a half hours. One decision room.
AGENDA · 09:00 – 12:30 · VALIDATED AND VOTED
Introductions
Current state
Benchmark
Business goals
Target users
Features
MVP
Wrap-up
Client executives, product owners, technology, commercial and operations in one room. I framed each block as a decision, held every feature to the journey that needed it, and let the room vote rather than debate. Scope that had no journey did not survive the morning.
CANDIDATE STORIES
86
→
41
IN THE MVP
39 TO PHASE 2 · 6 TO THE NORTH STAR · NOTHING DELETED
STEP 05 · PRIORITISED · FOUR DAYS AFTER THE ROOM
Eighty-six, read in full.
I wrote up the room into a backlog the client could take into build: forty-one stories in the MVP, thirty-nine phased to a second release, six held for the North Star, every one carrying its source, its journey and its phase.
Browse & search inventory
Real-time availability
Cart & multi-item booking
Checkout, reservation & payment
Booking management
Group & MICE booking flow
Package configurator (E2E)
Dynamic packaging engine
Bundle creation for final customer
Combine multiple destination assets
Combine with external packages
Distribute packages across the city
Bulk ticket purchase
Voucher distribution & management
Gift cards & promo codes
Markup calculator
Dynamic pricing
Margin rules by asset owner
Confidential net rates / role-based pricing
Offer & deal submission
Approval workflow (single/multi)
Real-time deal management
Deal management with asset owners
Cross-sell / upsell engine
List of venues & services
Filtering, sorting & search
Venue detail & specs
Rate parity and fencing
Credit terms and deposits
Multi-currency payment
Reconciliation and settlement
Refunds and cancellations
E-invoicing and VAT
Access training content
Interactive learning & progress
Certification programmes
Suggested learning paths
Group learning management
Save & download resources
City & asset knowledge hub
Knowledge resources
Search & filter knowledge
Featured content
Notification centre (educational)
Asset library
Single & bulk download
Filtering, sorting & search
Emerging assets access (gated)
Events calendar
RSVP & registration
My events
Past event highlights
Centralised event management integration
Itinerary builder / digital concierge
Interactive map
Co-marketing intent capture
Manage co-marketing requests
SSO gateway
Unified partner ID
CRM integration
Role-based access
B2G differentiated access
Partner registration
Partner onboarding
Qualification / accreditation
Profile & team management
Partner dashboard
Supplier dashboard
Performance insights for partners
Administrator dashboard
Back-office offer & package management
Partner performance & sales monitoring
Assess partner quality (voice of customer)
B2B loyalty / membership
Rewards system
Perks, benefits & membership card
Multilingual support
Global notification centre
Asset ticketing integration
Provider connectivity (channel manager / API)
Partner connectivity (OTA / operator API)
Inventory source of truth and sync
Data protection and residency
Right-to-left Arabic UI
Accessibility
Partner licensing verification
41
MVP
39
PHASE 2
6
NORTH STAR
STEP 06 · AGREED · SIX DAYS AFTER THE ROOM
A twelve-week discovery, agreed.
I turned the week into a plan the client could run rather than a deck: eight streams, two decision gates, a midpoint and a final readout, an eight-week option, and two team scenarios costed week by week. I walked the client team through it, and they agreed it as the next phase.
MOBILISATION
SHORT-TERM NEEDS
STRATEGY & BUSINESS
DEMAND RESEARCH
BENCHMARK
TECHNOLOGY
EXPERIENCE DESIGN
SYNTHESIS
G1
G2
MID
FINAL
10
PEOPLE · IDEAL
6
PEOPLE · MINIMUM
8
WEEKS · OPTION
WHAT I CHANGED
3 Days
of preparation, a small team
↓
1 Morning
twenty people, one decision room
↓
86 → 41
stories prioritised, forty-one in the MVP
↓
12 Weeks
of discovery agreed six days later
↓
5 Products
have run on the same method since
The Method Scaled.
AFTER STEP 06 · THE OPERATING MODEL
One Method.
METHOD
GOLF WEBSITE
STUDIO WEBSITE
TRAVEL TRADE PORTAL
THIS CASE
CORPORATE SITE
CITY WEBSITE
I built it for one brief.
I have run it on five products since, in delivery and in pitches, and it is now how my team opens a discovery.
WHAT I BRING
Undefined briefs become fundable plans.
Three words to a twelve-week discovery the client agreed to run, in under two weeks.
AI works under design judgment, not instead of it.
I decide what AI is allowed to produce and what stays human. The speed comes from the first, the plan from the second.
The method outlives the project.
One discovery became the way my team opens every discovery and pitch. Five products so far.
THE LESSON
The Biggest
Acceleration
Wasn’t
AI.
It was knowing what not to automate.
AI gave us more hours.
Design judgment gave those hours direction.
That is the part I am most proud of.
Stay Curious. Keep Moving.