UX Research · Product Strategy · Legaltech
Legal professionals juggle 16+ contracts at a time across scattered tools. I researched whether a "My Work" page could replace the email inbox as the first thing they check every morning.
01 — The Question
Legal professionals were starting every day the same way: checking email, scanning calendars, asking colleagues what was urgent. The information they needed to prioritize their work was scattered across too many places. The question wasn't whether they needed a better starting point — it was what that starting point should look like.
02 — How They Work Today
I designed and ran a two-part research study. Part one was a survey about current workflows. Part two was concept testing of two design prototypes. The survey revealed that legal professionals aren't starting their day from zero — they already have a running list of work. But discovering what's urgent happens reactively, not proactively.
How they decide what to do first was split: 50% go by nearest deadline, 25% by whoever is actively waiting, 25% by highest value contract. This suggested the page would need to surface multiple signals — deadline, who's waiting, and value — so users could apply their own prioritization logic.
03 — Two Concepts
I designed two concepts to test fundamentally different approaches to the same problem.
04 — The Results
Concept B was the clear favorite at 75%. But the more interesting data was in the details of how each concept performed.
05 — The AI Question
Both concepts included an AI assistant, but positioned differently. Concept A had it always visible as a sidebar. Concept B had it as a collapsible panel. 75% of participants preferred the collapsible approach.
The reasoning was practical: the AI assistant took up space that users wanted for their work queue. They wanted AI available when they had a question, not occupying screen real estate when they didn't. This reinforced a pattern I was seeing across Link AI work — AI should be accessible, not ambient.
06 — The Strategic Question
3 out of 4 participants wanted a personal work queue as their first screen when logging in. But I pushed the team to consider a nuance the data surfaced: not all user types benefit from the same homepage.
Active workflow users (things need my action, people are waiting): My Work as homepage makes sense. They need to triage.
Monitoring users (what's expiring, what did the AI find): My Work also works. They need awareness.
AI chat-only users (conversation-focused, pick up where I left off): My Work doesn't fit. Their starting point should be the chat, not a task queue.
This finding influenced the broader product strategy: the homepage shouldn't be one-size-fits-all. Different packages and user types need different entry points. The research gave us the data to make that argument rather than defaulting to a single homepage for everyone.
07 — Feature Priorities
Across surveys, concept testing, and open-ended feedback, clear feature priorities emerged:
Urgency signals — Overdue and Due Today sections leading the page. Every response mentioned deadlines.
"Someone is waiting on me" indicators — Time-in-status, follow-up tracking, @mentions. 100% discover urgency when someone follows up.
Richer context per item — AI summaries, points of contact, blockers, dollar value. Users can't prioritize from a title alone.
Team visibility — "Who needs help? Can I help them?" Coworker deadline visibility for load balancing.
Calendar integration — 75% rely on calendar reminders. The page needs to connect with Outlook/Teams.
Personal notes — Even Concept B users wanted the notes widget from Concept A brought over.