→ Background: the old platform
Our client, ClariLegal's main product is a Request For Proposal(RFP) tool. It's an online marketplace where legal professionals from both law firms and corporations find outsourcing opportunities. Compared to traditional RFP process, the ClariLegal platform makes it more convenient and efficient to:
find and approach vendors providing various services
compare vendors with standardized pricing method
negotiate offer and reach a deal
→ What isn't working any more?
As there is a growing number of buyers with a more diverse and complex needs, the platform becomes outdated.
→ Breaking down the task
Buyer's User Journey
After talking to a few buyers, it turns out creating RFP and comparing bids are the most problematic sections. Based on these findings, we'll try to improve user experience from the following 3 dimensions.
help buyers navigate themselves more efficiently
make the RFP creation process more flexible and less intimidating
help buyers make decisions with more ease
1. As a product designer, it's also important to understand business strategy and consider ti during the design process.
The ultimate goal of this project is to attract more users by upgrading users experience. Understanding the business side of the product is also key to possible future success.
2. For products with multi user personas, one of the challenges is to balance the needs between different types of users.
For this project, the two main types of users, buyers and vendors are on the opposite side of the negotiation table. However they're both key stakeholders for this product.
3. Again, learn from the users. This is especially important when it comes to new domains and use cases.
Litigation procurement is an extremely complicated field. It takes time to learn the process, stakeholders and everything, Users are one of the best teachers in learning necessary knowledge. As a designer, I don't have to expert in their work. But I need to know what's more helpful and spend my time more wisely.
