Trusli AI-Generated Contract
Building Fallback Systems for AI-Generated Contracts in a Pivoting Startup
My Role
Task Lead
UX Designer
Internship
My Skills & Tool
Design System, User Interview, Wireframing, Lo-fi prototyping, Hi-fi prototyping
My Team
Freya Wang, Product Manager
Charlotte Tao, CTO
Time
08/2023
(6 weeks)
Project Overview
Trusli was undergoing a pivot, with two product directions being pursued simultaneously. My focus was on document management and template management for the fallbacks of AI-generated contracts. As a small startup with a lean organization, it was crucial for me to clarify user needs and ensure clarity in thoughts, actions, and questions during the product development process from 0 to 1.
Problem
🔥 How can we simplify document and template management for lawyers, increasing efficiency and reducing misunderstandings during contract negotiations?
In addition to general document management, this SaaS system for lawyers to manage contracts requires specialized functions for daily tasks.
Solution
After interviews and prototype testing, I proposed a new UX design. However, all the feature pictures on the master image are my simulation.
🔑 As the confidential issue cannot provide actual UX design files, I will clearly explain my contribution to the project. The company is currently raising funds, and I will share how I define the problem, break it down, propose action plans, and design best practices. After confirming with the CTO, to comply with the confidentiality agreement, I will not share the product features and related information publicly or privately.
Challenges
Challenge 1
Lawyers Differ in Document Management
Approach to the Challenge:
Drove User Interviews Helped Me Summarize and Rank Key Pain Points
First-hand research can verify and revise assumptions when clarifying questions for a new product. In order to create new products, it's crucial to have a deep understanding of the user's experience and context.
However, genuinely innovative products require exploring new aspects of that same experience. This is why conducting first-hand research is essential to gather relevant information.
Second-hand data can only provide users with information that has already been widely known and experienced, making it challenging to benefit new products directly.
Why Did I Choose this Approach?
Safeguarding Confidentiality and Choosing Wisely
🚀 Advantages of this Solution: To ensure the confidentiality of the product and the qualifications of interviewees, I consulted with the CEO who is also a qualified lawyer. Together, we identified suitable lawyers and legal practitioners to interview. This approach not only ensures that interviewees adhere to the asylum agreement, but also helps us select highly qualified candidates for the interviews.
🔐 Limitations to this Solution: It is crucial to acknowledge that as a brand-new product, there are no direct users in the market who have used our product. Therefore, I decided not to rely solely on users’ past experiences and pain points about using other products. Instead, I took a proactive approach and deeply explored the fundamental pain points to ensure that our product meets the needs and expectations of our potential users.
Challenge 2
Lack of Transparency in Lawyer-Specific SaaS: Educating Users for Better Adoption
Approach to the Challenge:
I Divided the Benching Targets into Two Directions to Benchmark Product Features. The First Direction is File Management, and I Benchmarked Google Drive and ClickUp; the Second Direction is Lawyers' Habits.
Why Did I Choose this Approach?
Dissecting Popular Products & User Insights to Design Optimal UX
To conduct an effective benchmark of the product's functions, I divided the benchmarking targets into two directions. The first direction is related to file management, and involves benchmarking Google Drive and ClickUp, which are online SaaS tools commonly used by public users. These tools have good user flow and experience design, making them suitable targets for study. The second direction focuses on the work practices and habits of lawyers.
🚀 Advantages of this Solution: By breaking down the functions and analyzing popular products that provide each function, it is possible to identify a set of user flows that are feasible and easy for users to learn. Additionally, I combined this approach with the results of user interviews with four lawyers to gain a clear understanding of their pain points when managing documents and negotiating contracts. Despite using various methods to alleviate these pain points, lawyers are still unable to completely solve them. Therefore, I can design a brand-new set of experiences from scratch.
🔐 Limitations to this Solution: With this method, I need to find someone to continuously verify at each stage. After using the earlier method, I successfully created a user flow and wireframe. However, during the low-fidelity prototype stage, I needed to involve multiple stakeholders in discussions to validate that the proposed solution could effectively address the pain points and be implemented by the development team.
My Design Best Practice for Fast-paced Company
I adopted and optimized a set of design best practices for user research and UX design specifically tailored for agile processes and start-up companies.
My design best practice includes six stages.
Stage 1: Define by Research
When starting a project, I prioritize research to gain a better understanding of the target users and their needs. It helps me determine their objectives, tasks, and pain points when using the product. By doing so, I can create features that cater to their requirements and improve their experience. Additionally, I can identify areas for improvement by examining their struggles and the shortcomings of the current design. This allows me to design features that are more effective, user-friendly, and efficient.
I interviewed four attorneys licensed in California and New York during the initial user interviews. After I extracted and organized the key points from the interview transcripts, I grouped and mapped them several times and finally organized them into an affinity map containing five dimensions.
01.
My Deliverable
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User interview script
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Affinity map
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Competitor screenshots
02.
My Best Practice
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Learn about other competitors’ user flow
Stage 2: Ideate by Brainstorming
At this stage, I generate fresh ideas and solutions by brainstorming on my own or collaborating with other team members. This approach helps me to come up with innovative and unique ideas for designing a feature, especially if it is a complex one or new to the market. Moreover, brainstorming enables me to challenge my existing assumptions. As a result, I can create more effective and creative solutions by rethinking my assumptions about the feature and the users. Furthermore, it helps me to build consensus with my team as brainstorming helps us align ourselves towards the same goal. It is important for all team members to be on the same page about the direction of the feature design, and brainstorming is an effective way to ensure this.
01.
My Deliverable
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Ideations: high-level user flow with keyframes
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Input of PRD for PMs
02.
My Best Practice
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Explore as many solutions as I can
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If I am leading a task with a team, I will ask each member to ideate and then bring their ideas back for brainstorming.
Stage 3: Iterate by Wireframing
Wireframes play a crucial role in helping me visualize and experiment with different design ideas. They provide a low-fidelity way of visualizing the layout and functionality of a feature, enabling me to try out various design concepts and receive feedback from stakeholders and users before committing to high-fidelity design and development.
One of the benefits of wireframes is that they can help me identify and address usability problems early in the design process, saving valuable time and resources in the long run.
Moreover, wireframes are an effective means of communicating the design vision to project managers, developers, and CTO, ensuring that everyone is working towards the same goal and on the same page.
01.
My Deliverable
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Updated user flow
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Low-fidelity or middle-fidelity clickable prototype
02.
My Best Practice
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Always start with black-and-white chunks to show the layout
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For a low-fidelity or middle clickable prototype, ask for feedback. I always check after it meets each of the below:
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Feasibility green light from the developer team
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Different perspectives from designers, PMs, and stakeholders
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User flow should be task-oriented. I will make sure it includes clear steps for different scenarios
Stage 4: Prototype by High-fidelity Design
During this stage, I create high-fidelity designs which are an accurate representation of the final product. These designs are visually and functionally similar to the end product, which allows me to test the feature with users and stakeholders in a more realistic setting. This approach helps me to identify and address usability problems early on, which can save time and resources down the line. Moreover, high-fidelity designs are an effective way to communicate the design vision to other stakeholders such as developers, product managers, and investors. This ensures that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goal.e and working towards the same goal.
01.
My Deliverable
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High-fidelity clickable prototype
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Screen by screen High-fidelity design with annotations
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Happy path
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Error case
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Edge case
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02.
My Best Practice
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It needs to look nice and polished
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It should strictly follow the PRD and user flow
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Always log design challenges and iteration ideas aside
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Always follow the design system
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For high-fidelity design, ask for feedback. Check after it meets each of the below:
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PMs
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Designers
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Stakeholders
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Developers
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Stage 5: Develop
At this stage, as a designer, I ensure that the designs are complete and accurate. This involves providing all of the necessary design specifications, such as font sizes, colors, spacing, and interactions. Additionally, I provide clear instructions and documentation, which should include information on how the designs should be implemented, as well as any specific technical requirements. One of the most important aspects of my job is to be available to answer questions and provide support. Developers may have questions about the designs or may need help implementing certain features, and I am always ready to assist them.
01.
My Deliverable
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Developer handoff
02.
My Best Practice
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Provide all of the necessary design specifications, such as font sizes, colors, spacing, and interactions
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Be available to answer questions and provide support for developers
Stage 6: Test and Launch
In terms of testing, I am capable of performing usability testing to identify and address any usability issues before launching a feature. Additionally, I can conduct A/B testing to compare different design variations and determine which one performs better with the users. Moreover, I have the ability to utilize analytics to track user interactions and identify areas that require improvement.
Regarding the launch, I can assist in preparing users for the new feature by creating user guides, tutorials, and other resources to help them understand how to use it. Additionally, I will monitor user feedback after the feature is launched to promptly identify any problems and make necessary improvements.
01.
My Deliverable
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Consistency test report
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Usability test report
02.
My Best Practice
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If possible, collect user feedback
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Make sure it meets the Acceptance Criteria (AC) and Figma design
Lesson Learned
Clarity in thoughts, actions, questions
To maintain a holistic view of the project and avoid confusion, I will ask questions that guide me. For instance, what business problem are we tackling? Why are we embarking on this project? How does my current project fit into the bigger vision?
Always ask the why
I will review my plans, notes, and communication to ensure clarity in thoughts and actions, even if my supervisor cannot provide clear information.
If I had the opportunity to redo this project, I would do my best to execute the project more efficiently. After listening to the suggestions from all parties, I would more consciously decide which opinions should be implemented and which could be referred to.
While working on the UX design project, I considered all the suggestions that I received from various stakeholders. However, I realized that not all suggestions were suitable for implementation in the current stage of product development. Some of them would be more appropriate for future stages. Therefore, I have decided to classify all the good suggestions received, and prioritize them according to the product development strategy, taking into account the company's vision and goals. With this approach, I'm confident that the UX design will be more effective and aligned with the overall product development plan.