Designing how 500+ legal professionals find documents, coordinate handoffs, and move 1,000+ cases forward each week.
The brief started as a request for a better document repository. But once I followed how work actually moved through the firm, the problem became bigger: documents, decisions, ownership, and status were scattered across emails, folders, spreadsheets, and individual memory.
I led the research, strategy, and experience design of a connected Document Management System that brought documents, people, and workflows into one place.
60%
reduction in document
retrieval time
3x
faster workflow
coordination & handoffs
80%
improvement in
document discoverability
Estimated impact based on workflow analysis, task benchmarking, usability testing, and stakeholder validation.
Research & Discovery
I started by following how a case moved - not where its files lived.
Every legal matter moved through multiple departments before completion, but there was no shared system
supporting that journey.
Documents travelled through email. Progress was tracked manually. Important context stayed buried in inboxes,
and knowing which version was current often depended on individual memory.
Before thinking about features, I wanted to understand one thing:
How did a case actually move through the firm?
Every legal matter moved through multiple departments before completion, but there was no shared system supporting that journey.
Documents travelled through email. Progress was tracked manually. Important context stayed buried in inboxes, and knowing which version was current often depended on individual memory.
Before thinking about features, I wanted to understand one thing:
How did a case actually move through the firm?
One document told the story.
I created the “Found in Spam” storyboard to follow one case from:
Intake → Filing → Review → Revision → Handoff
to make the fragmented workflow visible.
What looked like a document-storage problem quickly became a question of
“What happens to ownership, context, and status as a case moves between teams?”
I observed how legal teams handled cases day to day.
Rather than beginning with features, I investigated how documents, information, and responsibility
moved across the organization.
06
Stakeholder
Interviews
12
User
Interviews
03
Contextual
Observation Sessions
200+
Observations
03
Rounds of Usability
Testing
I stepped into the day-to-day reality of legal work. I interviewed, observed, and mapped how documents, information, and responsibility moved across teams.
I shadowed employees as they received cases, created documents, searched for files, transferred work between teams, and responded to status requests.
The workarounds revealed what the existing system wasn’t supporting.
Observation showed patterns that interviews alone could not.
Employees repeatedly:
Relied on
memory
to locate files
Re-entered the
same
information
across
documents
Searched email
threads for
context
Followed up
manually to
understand
case
status
Different roles. Same breakdowns.
I synthesized research across eight legal and operational roles into personas and journey maps.
Their responsibilities differed, but the same problems kept appearing:
- finding documents
- understanding ownership
- managing handoffs
- identifying the latest version
- knowing current status
That was my first indication that the problem was not tied to one role or department.
It was systemic.
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Analysis & Synthesis
200+ observations. Five patterns kept repeating.
After each interview and observation session, I captured behaviors, breakdowns, workarounds, questions,
and opportunities.
Across the research, this produced more than 200 observations.
I synthesized them through affinity mapping and thematic clustering to separate
isolated frustrations from recurring patterns.
Five themes emerged :
Information access
Finding the correct document depended on knowing where someone had stored or shared it.
Manual processes
Repeated data entry slowed employees down and introduced avoidable errors.
Version management
Employees lacked confidence that they were viewing or editing the most current file.
Workflow visibility
Once work moved to another department, its status and ownership became difficult to trace.
Collaboration
Important decisions and context were distributed across emails, conversations, and individual tracking methods.
Five Key insights that changed the product
01
Finding information was harder than creating it
02
Administrative tasks were consuming valuable legal time.
03
Version ambiguity created operational risk.
04
Ownership became invisible during cross-team handoffs.
05
Teams needed one shared operational source of truth.
The Reframe
Leadership initially believed the firm needed a better document repository.
Research revealed that storage alone would not solve unclear ownership, broken handoffs, missing content, repeated followups, or uncertainty around document versions.
Document Repository
A place to store files.
Connected DocumentsWorkflow Ecosystem
A unified system to connect documents, people, and workflows.
Because the real problem was bigger.
Unclear ownership across teams
Repeated follow-ups to check status
Broken handoffs between departments
Uncertainty around document versions
Missing context in emails, folders and chats
Limited visibility into case progress.
Ideation & Strategy
We had more opportunities than we could responsibly put into V1.
Research surfaced opportunities across document retrieval,
collaboration, workflow visibility, document governance,
templates, automation, analytics, and knowledge management.
The challenge was no longer generating ideas.
It was deciding what mattered most now.
I prioritized opportunities around: Frequency × User Impact × Operational Risk × Technical Effort × MVP Feasibility
ContextualSearch
CentralRepository
WorkflowTracking
AssignmentManagement
ReusableTemplates
VersionControl
AI-AssistedRetrieval
KnowledgeManagement Layer
WorkflowAnalytics
Scenario Mapping
From research opportunities to user flows
I mapped key scenarios to understand how the primary features would come
together to support end-to-end workflows
Search a document
Manage a document
Create from a template
Assign work
Strategic Decisions - from constraints to direction
Repository →
Workflow Ecosystem
Storage alone would not solve unclear ownership, handoffs, or status.
Folder-First →
Search + Familiar Structure
Users remembered clients, cases, matter IDs, and keywords more reliably than folder paths.
Full Automation →
Reusable Templates
Templates delivered immediate value while keeping the MVP technically realistic.
Generic DMS →
Workflow-Specific Experience
The platform was structured around the firm's operating model rather than forcing users into a generic hierarchy.
Experience Principles - guiding the design
Find without relying on memory
Make ownership visible
Reduce repetitive work
Preserve document integrity
Keep work connected
Information Architecture
Legal professionals think about work through clients, matters,
cases, owners, statuses, and tasks. The IA supports
multiple routes to the same information.
Formulation & Application
Designing for speed and context.
I translated the research findings into a product structure that helped legal teams find, act, and collaborate without losing the case context.
Legal teams didn’t just need to find documents faster. They needed to see the full context around the work so they could act with confidence.
From the reframe to the system
The research revealed that the problem was not just document storage, it was the effort of finding the right information, understanding the full context, and coordinating next steps. I translated this into three core product requirements.
Flexible retrieval
Make it easy to find the right information without relying on memory or folder paths.
Connected case context
Keep documents, matter details, people, and history together in one place.
Visible ownership and handoffs
Show who owns what, where it is in the workflow, and what happens next.
From structure to core flows
I mapped the key end-to-end flows to validate that the structure supported real user tasks.
Find a document
Create from a template
Coordinate a handoff
The structure was now clear.
Next, I designed the final experience around the recurring needs uncovered in research.
Retrieval, context, and ownership stay connected, helping legal teams move faster, with less manual effort.
The Final Experience
A workflow ecosystem for everyday legal processes
Rather than organizing the solution by screens, I designed around five recurring employee needs.
Find it without remembering where it lives.
Retrieval often depended on memory or knowing an exact folder path.
Search by client, matter ID, case number, keywords, document type, owner, or status with combinable filters.
the right document.
Search
| Name ⇅ | Type | Matter | Client | Owner | Modified ⇵ | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement.docx
Contracts › NDA
|
Contract |
MAT-00427
Acme Technologies Ltd.
|
Acme Technologies Ltd. |
AT
Alex Thompson
|
12 May 2024, 10:24 | Approved | ||
|
NDA - Acme Technologies.pdf
Contracts › NDA
|
Contract |
MAT-00427
Acme Technologies Ltd.
|
Acme Technologies Ltd. |
SC
Sarah Chen
|
10 May 2024, 14:11 | Approved | ||
|
Vendor Agreement - Beta Innovations.xlsx
Contracts › Vendor Agreements
|
Contract |
MAT-01562
Beta Innovations Inc.
|
Beta Innovations Inc. |
RB
Robert Brown
|
8 May 2024, 16:03 | In Review | ||
|
Service Agreement - Global Solutions
Contracts › Service Agreements
|
Contract |
MAT-00918
Global Solutions
|
Global Solutions |
JD
Jane Doe
|
29 Apr 2024, 11:08 | Approved | ||
|
Mutual NDA - Draft.docx
Contracts › NDA
|
Contract |
MAT-00427
Acme Technologies Ltd.
|
Acme Technologies Ltd. |
EM
Emily Martinez
|
22 Apr 2024, 13:42 | Pending | ||
|
Client Service Terms.pdf
Contracts › Client Agreements
|
Contract |
MAT-02110
SupplyCo
|
SupplyCo |
AT
Alex Thompson
|
18 Apr 2024, 09:30 | Approved | ||
|
Power of Attorney.docx
Legal › Power of Attorney
|
Legal |
MAT-00391
Wayne Enterprises
|
Wayne Enterprises |
SC
Sarah Chen
|
15 Apr 2024, 14:20 | Archived | ||
|
Employment Agreement.pdf
HR › Employment Agreements
|
HR |
MAT-01745
Internal
|
Internal |
RB
Robert Brown
|
10 Apr 2024, 11:16 | Approved |
See the whole matter in one place.
Context was split across emails, folders, people, and individual trackers.
Bring documents, matter information, ownership, people, status, history, and related tasks into one shared environment.
with the matter.
Welcome back, Alex
Recent matters
View all →Commercial Partnership Agreement
Acme Technologies Ltd.Master Services Agreement
Global Solutions Inc.Vendor Agreement
Beta InnovationsClient Engagement Agreement
SupplyCoRecent documents
View all →| Name | Matter | Type | Modified ↕ | Owner | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement.docx
Agreement
|
MAT-00427 | Agreement | 12 May 2024 10:24 AM |
AT
Alex Thompson
|
Approved | ||
|
Commercial Partnership Agreement.pdf
Contracts
|
MAT-00427 | Agreement | 10 May 2024 02:11 PM |
SC
Sarah Chen
|
In Review | ||
|
Pricing & Terms Schedule.xlsx
Financials
|
MAT-00427 | Spreadsheet | 8 May 2024 04:03 PM |
RB
Robert Brown
|
Approved | ||
|
Counterparty Redline.docx
Drafts
|
MAT-00427 | Agreement | 6 May 2024 11:20 AM |
EM
Emily Martinez
|
Draft | ||
|
Board Approval Memo.pdf
Internal
|
MAT-00427 | Report | 2 May 2024 03:14 PM |
AT
Alex Thompson
|
Approved |
Recent documents
| Name | Type | Version | Modified ↓ | Owner | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Commercial Partnership Agreement.docx
Agreements
|
Agreement | v2.1 | 12 May 2024 10:24 AM |
AT
Alex Thompson
|
Approved | ||
|
Client Service Terms.pdf
Client Documents
|
Contract | v1.4 | 10 May 2024 02:11 PM |
SC
Sarah Chen
|
Approved | ||
|
Vendor Evaluation Matrix.xlsx
Supporting Documents
|
Workbook | v1.0 | 8 May 2024 04:03 PM |
RB
Robert Brown
|
In Review | ||
|
Draft Agreement.docx
Drafts
|
Agreement | v0.9 | 6 May 2024 11:20 AM |
EM
Emily Martinez
|
Draft | ||
|
Due Diligence Report.pdf
Research & Analysis
|
Report | v1.2 | 2 May 2024 03:14 PM |
AT
Alex Thompson
|
Approved |
Know who owns it and what happens next.
Ownership became unclear during cross-team handoffs.
Make current owner, workflow stage, status, pending action, and next step visible.
problem made visible.
Workflow
Track and manage tasks across matters, from review to execution.
| Matter ↑ | Task | Stage | Status | Assignee | Due date | Priority | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAT-00427 Commercial Partnership... | Review final draft | Agreement Review | In Progress |
AT
Alex Thompson
|
18 May 2024 | High | ||
| MAT-00427 Commercial Partnership... | Send to client | Client Review | Not Started |
SC
Sarah Chen
|
20 May 2024 | Medium | ||
| MAT-00427 Commercial Partnership... | Prepare signature package | Execution | Not Started |
EM
Emily Martinez
|
24 May 2024 | High | ||
| MAT-01562 Vendor Agreement | Update commercial terms | Legal Review | In Progress |
RB
Robert Brown
|
28 May 2024 | Medium | ||
| MAT-00918 Client Engagement... | Submit for regulatory filing | Regulatory | In Review |
AW
Andrew Wilson
|
3 Jun 2024 | Medium | ||
| MAT-00391 Master Services... | Follow up on diligence questions | Due Diligence | Blocked |
AC
Alex Chen
|
25 Apr 2024 | High | ||
| MAT-00356 Vendor Agreement | Prepare final agreement | Execution | Not Started |
JP
Jamie Park
|
2 May 2024 | Medium | ||
| MAT-00312 Client Engagement... | Confirm client details | Intake | In Progress |
ML
Morgan Lee
|
28 Apr 2024 | Low |
Task details
Review the final draft of the Commercial Partnership Agreement and incorporate internal and client feedback.
Upcoming deadlines
View all →Reduce Repetitive Work
Pre-approved templates helped legal teams create documents faster and with fewer errors, reducing repeated data entry and improving consistency.
- Template library by document type
- Pre-filled fields and guidance
- Maintain version control and approvals
approved template.
Templates
Start from approved templates and generate documents faster.
Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement
ContractsStandard mutual non-disclosure agreement with customizable terms for commercial engagements.
Service Agreement
ContractsService agreement for professional services with standard terms and conditions.
Vendor Agreement
ContractsVendor agreement for goods and services with commercial and compliance terms.
Employment Agreement
EmploymentEmployment agreement with standard terms, compensation and confidentiality provisions.
Legal Notice
CorporateTemplate for legal notices and formal communications.
Power of Attorney
CorporateGeneral power of attorney with customizable scope and jurisdiction clauses.
Create from Template
Fill in the key details and generate a customized document.
MUTUAL NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT
This Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement (“Agreement”) is entered into on 10 May 2024 by and between Acme Technologies Ltd. (“Disclosing Party”) and Global Solutions Inc. (“Receiving Party”), each a “Party” and together the “Parties”.
The purpose of this Agreement is to enable the Parties to explore a potential commercial partnership and share certain confidential information in connection with such discussions.
“Confidential Information” means all business, technical, and financial information shared between the parties for the purpose of exploring a commercial partnership, whether written, oral, or in any other form.
This Agreement shall commence on 10 May 2024 and shall remain in effect for a period of 3 years, unless earlier terminated in accordance with Section 8.
This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States.
Maintain Trust
Employees could verify the latest version, review activity, understand ownership, and restore previous versions without leaving the document.
- Granular version timeline & audit trails
- Clear attribution by author and timestamp
- One-click restore without leaving the doc
Know who changed
what. Restore
if needed.
Validation & Iteration
Testing with users to refine and strengthen.
I conducted 3 rounds of moderated usability testing with 6 legal professionals, focusing each round on a critical product risk. Each iteration reduced ambiguity, improved task success, and increased confidence before implementation.
“It finally feels intuitive.
I can find what I need and
understand who owns it
without asking around.”
Round 1 — Ownership
TASK: IDENTIFY AND MANAGE ASSIGNED DOCUMENTS
Finding
“Assigned to me” and “assigned by me” were difficult to distinguish.
Change
Clearer task states, ownership labels, avatars, and status indicators.
Round 2 — Retrieval
TASK: FIND A SPECIFIC DOCUMENT USING FILTERS
Finding
Users expected filters to work together but were unsure which filters were active.
Change
Persistent multi-filter search with visible active filters and easy filter removal.
Round 3 — Version Trust
TASK: CHECK DOCUMENT HISTORY WITHOUT LEAVING
Finding
Users wanted to see version history and key changes without leaving the document.
Change
Embedded version history with quick-access audit information.
Other usability learnings
Users preferred search over deep folder navigation
Clearer naming conventions reduced errors
Status labels needed consistent language across departments
Templates saved significant time for recurring documents
Visual workflow stages increased accountability
Context and metadata were as important as the document itself
Impact
What changed and what the system made possible.
A connected system reduced time spent searching for documents, improved cross-team coordination,
and created greater visibility, accountability, and confidence across everyday legal workflows.
Employee Impact
- Less time spent searching for documents.
- Less repetitive administrative entry.
- Greater visibility into case status and ownership.
- More confidence around document versions.
Team Impact
- Clearer cross-team handoffs.
- Less reliance on email for status updates.
- Shared visibility into case progress.
Organizational Impact
- A centralized source of information.
- Greater accountability across workflows.
- A foundation for future automation and analytics.
“We went from chasing updates across emails and folders to having a single place where everyone can see the latest status, ownership, and documents. It has made our work significantly faster and more transparent.”
Reflection
This project changed what I thought
I was designing.
I started with a document-management problem.
I ended up redesigning how information, ownership, decisions, and case progress
moved through an organization.
The project pushed me beyond interface design into research, systems thinking,
workflow strategy, product prioritization, and stakeholder alignment.
Research changed the
brief.
Following cases across departments revealed a broader challenge than the original repository request.
Constraints sharpened
the product.
Prioritization forced us to address recurring, consequential problems before expanding the feature set.
Visibility became part of
the experience.
Some of the most important improvements were making ownership, context, status, and next steps visible when employees needed them.
Welcome back, Alex
Recent matters
View all →Commercial Partnership Agreement
Acme Technologies Ltd.Master Services Agreement
Global Solutions Inc.Vendor Agreement
Beta InnovationsClient Engagement Agreement
SupplyCoRecent documents
View all →| Name | Matter | Type | Modified ↕ | Owner | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement.docx
Agreement
|
MAT-00427 | Agreement | 12 May 2024 10:24 AM |
AT
Alex Thompson
|
Approved | ||
|
Commercial Partnership Agreement.pdf
Contracts
|
MAT-00427 | Agreement | 10 May 2024 02:11 PM |
SC
Sarah Chen
|
In Review | ||
|
Pricing & Terms Schedule.xlsx
Financials
|
MAT-00427 | Spreadsheet | 8 May 2024 04:03 PM |
RB
Robert Brown
|
Approved | ||
|
Counterparty Redline.docx
Drafts
|
MAT-00427 | Agreement | 6 May 2024 11:20 AM |
EM
Emily Martinez
|
Draft | ||
|
Board Approval Memo.pdf
Internal
|
MAT-00427 | Report | 2 May 2024 03:14 PM |
AT
Alex Thompson
|
Approved |
Recent documents
| Name | Type | Version | Modified ↓ | Owner | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Commercial Partnership Agreement.docx
Agreements
|
Agreement | v2.1 | 12 May 2024 10:24 AM |
AT
Alex Thompson
|
Approved | ||
|
Client Service Terms.pdf
Client Documents
|
Contract | v1.4 | 10 May 2024 02:11 PM |
SC
Sarah Chen
|
Approved | ||
|
Vendor Evaluation Matrix.xlsx
Supporting Documents
|
Workbook | v1.0 | 8 May 2024 04:03 PM |
RB
Robert Brown
|
In Review | ||
|
Draft Agreement.docx
Drafts
|
Agreement | v0.9 | 6 May 2024 11:20 AM |
EM
Emily Martinez
|
Draft | ||
|
Due Diligence Report.pdf
Research & Analysis
|
Report | v1.2 | 2 May 2024 03:14 PM |
AT
Alex Thompson
|
Approved |
The strongest enterprise
products don’t simply
improve screens.
people work together.
Research strategy system.
