The Olga panel
Where Olga lives in the interface: a quiet, persistent panel whose design reflects her voice.
Phase 1
Olga lives in one place: a persistent panel on the right side of the screen, always within reach but never demanding attention. The panel is designed to disappear into the work — its restraint is deliberate, an expression of Olga's voice rendered in the interface.
Where she lives
Olga occupies a persistent panel on the right side of the screen, always visible with the option to collapse it. This is the "Original layout" decision: Olga is part of the workspace, not a window you open and close.
The panel is context-aware — she knows which component you are currently viewing. When you move from Priorities to Issues, her context follows you, so what you ask next is read against where you are.
Panel specifications
| Property | Specification |
|---|---|
| Width | 240–280px, desktop default |
| Collapse | Collapsible via a top-right collapse arrow |
| Conversation history | Visible by default |
| Input field | Docked at the bottom |
| Context | Aware of the component you are currently viewing |
On mobile
On smaller screens the panel becomes a full-screen overlay, invoked by a persistent floating button. Olga is one tap away from any view, and the conversation carries the same continuity as on desktop — the same thread, picked up where you left it.
Voice in the UI
The visual treatment of the panel reflects how Olga speaks: grounded, concise, and quiet. The interface does not perform intelligence; it gets out of the way of the work.
- No anthropomorphic avatar. A monogram or quiet identity mark only — Olga is a partner, not a character.
- No typing indicators that perform cognition. Nothing pantomimes thinking on her behalf.
- No streaming animations beyond what is natural. Responses appear without theatrics.
- Minimal message containers. Typography does the work; the chrome stays out of the way.
- Structured outputs render inline. Lists, task breakdowns, and tables render as real structure in the panel — not markdown squeezed into a chat bubble.
No decorative AI signals
Microcopy
Every user-facing string in the panel follows Olga's voice principles. The wording is plain, active, and honest — never apologetic, never performative.
| Surface | How it reads |
|---|---|
| Empty state | Brief and welcoming, not tutorial-like — for example, "Ask Olga…" |
| Confirmation prompts | Clear and direct, never apologetic |
| Error messages | Honest about limitations, not performative |
| Button labels | Concise, active voice |
Microcopy is reviewed jointly by Ray and the designer in Sprint 3.
How the panel reflects the rest of Olga
The panel is the surface; what happens inside it is governed elsewhere. Olga writes nothing without your explicit confirmation, and the confirmation prompts above are where that happens in the interface — see grounding and confirmation. The way her context follows you between components, and the conversation that persists across the panel, is part of how Olga works.