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Product Design

Anchor Navigation: Designing for Orientation Over Access

Andy Ellis-Clew Product Designer

Andrew Ellis

July 15, 2026
Time to read: 2 minutes
3 layers
Dashboards, Organisation and Modules, expressed in the navigation
Orientation
The design goal, orientation over access across the platform
Context intact
Teams move between insight and action without losing context
Didn't have time to read - TL;DR
3 key takeaways
1
Built for movement. Risk managers shift between board summaries, cross unit investigations and operational close out, and the navigation keeps context intact across all of it.
2
Three clear layers. Dashboards interpret performance, Organisation defines governance and hierarchy, and Modules execute the workflows and risk activities.
3
Orientation over access. Deliberate constraints keep the platform predictable as complexity grows, so teams stay oriented rather than just connected.
Risk managers don't work in a single mode. They might move from preparing a board-level risk summary, to investigating something across three business units, to working with an operational team to close out a control.

That movement is where most of the work happens. Keeping context intact across all of it is very important and underpins how teams get the work done. That's what this redesign strengthens.

Designing for How Risk Teams Work

Clew connects objectives, risk and assurance so organisations can understand performance, make informed decisions and execute with confidence.

The navigation strengthens how that connection is experienced within Clew.

It surfaces that foundation so users can move confidently between:
  • interpreting performance for their organisation
  • understanding risk and assurance in organisational context
  • executing actions with operational teams
This is achieved through the three powerful layers of the platform, clearly expressed within the anchor navigation.

Dashboards represent the decision layer.
Where performance is interpreted and communicated.

Organisation represents the structural layer.
Where governance, accountability and hierarchy are defined.

Modules represent the capability layer.
Where workflows, actions and risk management activities are executed.

Key point

Clew has always ensured each layer has a clear role, supporting a different part of the risk manager's job. The navigation reinforces and strengthens that.

Constraints That Create Clarity

Designing for orientation requires discipline. Not everything is accessible from everywhere. Not every shortcut is surfaced. These are deliberate choices.

They reinforce the mental model of the platform and reduce ambiguity. The result is a system that remains predictable as complexity increases.

The Outcome

Risk and governance teams can move between insight and action without losing context.

They can interpret performance, understand where it sits in the organisation, and execute with confidence.

"Not just access, but orientation. A navigation that works with the user."

Clew-Logo

Clew is a risk and assurance platform built around the Golden Thread, the traceable link from strategic objectives to the controls that manage them and the exposure that remains. We write about making risk management a working discipline rather than a compliance exercise.

Andy Ellis-Clew Product Designer

Meet the author

Andrew Ellis

Principal Product Designer | UX/UI Design Lead | Product Strategy

Andrew led the navigation redesign, shaping how risk and governance teams move between performance, organisational context and execution.
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