Context

Arkk is a self-initiated concept product for the transfer-pricing function of a fictional multinational, Northgate. It was designed and built as a working demo across thirteen connected screens, on invented but internally consistent tax data. The domain is unglamorous and high-stakes: every intercompany price a group charges itself has to sit inside a defensible arm's-length range, and the close has to post on time. Arkk is what a calm, legible tool for that work looks like.

Problem

Transfer pricing lives in spreadsheets and PDF memos, where the number is visible but the reasoning behind it is buried. The design problem was to make the method as legible as the margin: which benchmarking method applies to each transaction class, where the result sits in the interquartile range, what is in range, what is below and needs a true-up, and how the whole quarter-end close runs from raw feeds to a posted general ledger.

Approach

The product is organized as a workspace: an overview readiness ring, a cost matrix, a benchmarking view that explains every method, a legal-entity hierarchy, a runs log, and a visual workflow builder for automating the close. Status lives in fill tints and labeled pills rather than colored borders. The workflow canvas behaves like an application pane, fixed to the viewport with independent scroll regions, and its assistant drafts steps while flagging its own mistakes out loud.

Outcome

Thirteen screens that connect properly, a Close-the-Quarter flow that runs end to end, and a benchmarking screen that reads like a defensibility story instead of a number dump. The node families read as one system down to a single icon-tile spec. Navigation was audited click by click in the exact serving setup, so nothing opens the wrong screen anymore.