Client: Leap LLC, a comprehensive B2B SaaS suite designed to optimize sales and operations for small, mid, and large scale home-improvement contracting businesses.
Overview: The Leap suite was in desperate need of an update; not just from the perspective of visual modernization, but the UX and UI had never been properly planned or tested. The goal was to bring the design up to par with current big-tech players, build the foundations of a scalable UI system, and address UX issues in high traffic areas.
Roles: Lead UX Designer, UX Researcher, UI System Designer, Data Architect, Product Manager
Problem Statement: The experience of using the app and dashboard is overwhelming, confusing, and unapproachable.
Desired Outcomes: Increased frequency of usage of the app and dashboard with less errors and higher satisfaction rates resulting in less frequent calls to support team.
Research: Market research showed that our competitors were using modern and familiar UI components and flows that aligned with real-world actions. Google Analytics gave us a heat map of where our users were spending most of their time. Combining this data, we decided to rearchitect the nav structure of the dashboard to align with the day-to-day of our users and create focus areas for common functions. For rapid feedback, I organized weekly roundtables open to the entire company where we would demo what we worked on and get insight on flows, structure, and mocks while also ensuring that our solutions aligned with our on-boarding and account management processes.
Methodologies employed: mood boards, card sorting, mind maps, empathy maps, personas, impact matrix
Design Process: Starting with look and feel, we went through dozens of iterations, rapidly testing for accessibility and usability, before we found a design that was modern, clean, scalable, and that the founders loved. We also used this opportunity to start building a comprehensive design system and implement our Product Lifecycle model. Working through the suite feature by feature, we continued to preset wires, flow, and high fidelity mocks to our research panels until we had a comprehensive MVP to deliver to engineering.
Challenges: Limited time, limited budget, no data of current usage, no design systems in place, an off-shore dev team that works weekends, and I'm the sole UX'er on the team.
Outcomes: Increased user productivity and satisfaction with the updated UI and architecture. Go-to-market product that looks modern and updated means a happier and more confident sales team. Streamlined flows and less cognitive load means faster onboarding with higher retention rates and less churn.
Lessons Learned:
Get your teams involved early and often!
Oversharing is better than under-sharing.
Trust your people, trust the process.
There is no substitute for talking to your users.