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Project Overview

The objective was to augment the LegalCollaborator platform by incorporating auction bidding functionalities. This enhancement empowers corporate legal departments to effectively solicit and manage competitive proposals from law firms, ensuring a transparent and equitable bidding process.

• My Role: Lead Product Designer, responsible for UX/UI design, user research, and cross-functional collaboration.

• Team: Collaborated with product managers, engineers, and legal subject matter experts.

• Timeline: May 2024 – December 2024

The Challenge

Corporate legal departments often face challenges in managing competitive bidding processes, including:

• Lack of Transparency: Difficulty in ensuring a fair and open bidding environment.

• Inefficiency: Time-consuming processes in soliciting and evaluating proposals.

• Inconsistent Bidding Structures: Variability in how bids are submitted and compared.

The goal was to design an auction bidding system within LegalCollaborator that addresses these challenges by providing structured and transparent bidding options.

Discovery & Research

To inform the design of the auction bidding feature, comprehensive research was conducted:

• Stakeholder Interviews: Engaged with corporate legal teams to understand their needs and expectations for an auction-based bidding system.

• Competitive Analysis: Examined existing legal procurement tools and auction platforms to identify best practices and opportunities for innovation.

Key Insights

The research revealed that clients desire:

• Flexible Transparency Levels: Options to control the visibility of bids among participating law firms.

• Real-Time Interaction: Capabilities for law firms to adjust their bids dynamically in response to competitive activity.

• Structured Workflow: A clear and consistent process for initiating, managing, and concluding auctions.

Design Strategy

Based on these insights, the design strategy focused on integrating auction bidding features that offer:

1. Reverse Auction Types:

Implemented varying levels of transparency to accommodate different client preferences:

• No Transparency: Law firms can only see their own bids and proposal details.

• Partial Transparency: Law firms can view their bids and competitor bid values without revealing competitor identities.

• Full Transparency: Law firms can view their bids, competitor bid values, and competitor identities.

2. Real-Time Auction Dynamics:

Designed an interactive auction environment where:

• Law firms receive notifications if their bid is undercut.

• Participants can adjust their bids in real-time to remain competitive.

• An auction dashboard displays live updates and a countdown clock.

3. Structured Auction Workflow:

Established a clear sequence of steps for both clients and law firms:

• For Clients: Create legal engagement → Select auction type → Configure auction parameters → Prepare scope of work and pricing guidelines → Send invitations to law firms.

• For Law Firms: Accept invitation → Confirm conflict status → Submit initial response → Participate in live bidding during the auction.

Design Execution

• Wireframing and Prototyping: Developed wireframes and interactive prototypes to visualize and test the auction bidding workflows and user interfaces.

• User Testing: Conducted usability tests with corporate legal professionals and law firm representatives to validate design decisions and refine the user experience, ensuring the auction process was intuitive and met user needs.

Outcomes & Impact

The integration of auction bidding capabilities into LegalCollaborator resulted in:

• Enhanced Transparency: Clients gained control over the level of bid visibility, fostering a fair and open competitive environment.

• Improved Efficiency: Streamlined workflows reduced the time and effort required to solicit and evaluate bids, accelerating the selection process.

• Optimized Cost Management: Real-time bidding dynamics encouraged competitive pricing among law firms, leading to potential cost savings for clients.

Reflection

This project highlighted the importance of user-centered design in developing complex features like auction bidding. Key learnings included:

• Balancing Transparency and Competition: Designing flexible transparency options to accommodate varying client strategies and ethical considerations.

• Real-Time Interaction Design: Ensuring that live auction interfaces are responsive, intuitive, and provide clear feedback to participants.

• Workflow Clarity: Establishing a structured and comprehensible process that guides users through the auction setup and participation phases.