From a List of Situations to 40 Branded PDF Guides
A psychologist specialising in workplace wellbeing had a list of the work situations that wear people down most and a sample guide with her branding. She knew a great deal, but that knowledge only existed in her practice. I turned it into a collection of practical PDF guides, with her own branding, designed so that someone having a hard time at work can find help at the very moment they need it.
The problem
An expert's knowledge usually sits in the worst possible format for sharing: notes, ideas jotted down between sessions, examples told out loud. It is enormously valuable, but it can't be handed to anyone like that.
She wanted a content library for her immediate-help service, a kind of emergency button: when someone faces a specific situation at work, they can open the guide for that situation and know what to do.
The challenge was twofold. On one side, the content: each guide had to be useful, specific and true to the way she works. On the other, the design: a generic template wouldn't do. Everything had to look like hers, with the same consistency as the sample guide she had already published.
And there was a third, less visible challenge: the tone. Someone who opens a guide like this is usually anxious or hurt. The text had to be warm, free of clinical jargon and not sound like a company handbook, so the person feels supported rather than judged. Every word counts when the reader is going through a bad moment.
What I did
The project started with a list of 100 work situations that are the most emotionally draining: a boss who shouts, the fear of asking for a pay rise, going back after sick leave, and many more. I suggested working through them in blocks of 20, so she could review each block before moving on.
Every guide follows the same structure, so whoever opens it knows where to look:
- 5 phrases to calm down in that moment.
- What to do and what not to do.
- What to say, with concrete wording.
- What to think, to change the way you see the situation.
- Which of her guides to recommend to go deeper.
- When to refer to the psychologist, because a guide is no substitute for a professional.
For the design, I took the colours and fonts straight from her sample guide. That way the new guides don't just resemble her brand: they are her brand. And I built them so they are generated in batches: if she wants to change a cover, a colour or a layout detail, it applies to all of them at once, without redoing them one by one.
The most important part of the process: she reviews the content. AI helps me organise and draft, but she is the expert, and every guide goes through her judgement before it is signed off.
I delivered the first two blocks, 40 situations in total. With those 40 in hand, she decided she had enough for what she needed and chose to stop there. I think that's a very sensible decision: it is better to have 40 thoroughly reviewed guides than 100 half-finished ones, and the structure is ready in case she ever wants to continue.
Real results
- 40 guides delivered as PDFs, in two blocks of 20.
- All with her visual identity: her colours, her fonts and a consistent layout.
- Each one reviewed by her before being signed off.
- Ready to grow: the system can carry on from situation 41 without redoing anything.
What you can apply in your business
- Make the list of situations. If you are an expert in something, write down the questions or problems people bring you again and again. That list is already the table of contents of your product.
- Always use the same structure. When every piece follows the same outline, it is easier to create, review and use.
- Your brand, not a template. Start from what you already have: your colours, your fonts, your way of explaining things.
- AI organises, you validate. AI saves hours of writing and layout, but the final word has to belong to whoever knows the subject.
This work falls under AI integration for your business.
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