Research
The first thing that the UX team had to do was understand the current state of the LexisNexis library of IP products, what position they occupied in the marketplace, and how we could move them forward.
By gathering together and synthesizing previous deliverables, subject-matter expert interviews, and current market metrics, the UX team formed a strategy to optimize and consolidate a varied library of software applications into a single coherent product family.
Our research findings were concentrated into an easy-to-access database for several product teams to access, delivered in newly standardized formats, and regularly shared with stakeholders to promote buy-in for UX activities.
Deliverables Included:
- UX “Optimization” Strategic Plan.
- Information Architecture & Product-Flows.
- Consolidated UX Research Database.
UX Optimizational Strategy - To streamline and standardize the LNIP product family for an existing base of users, the UX team researched where each product was in terms of its life cycle, and what feedback/metrics were available for synthesis; armed with this information from customers, stakeholders, and subject-matter experts, we formulated an “optimization” strategy to address these issues holistically.
Product Flows, Heuristic Analysis, & User-Interface Audits - With a strategy in place, mapping out the application and its processes was the crucial first step for both understanding the information architecture, and having an element inventory; a thorough heuristics analysis and UI audit could be conducted so that elements could be standardized.
Design
With our initial research completed and a UX strategy in place, I began scoping out the production of a comprehensive Style Guide that included key accessibility/localization best practices.
Supplementary research was conducted to produce sketches, wireframes, prototypes, and a Style Guide document that would meet the complex needs of the IP analytics software family with an increasingly global marketplace.
From here, my team worked closely with our colleagues in development to build a quick-access Design System to streamline future coding workflows.
Deliverables Included:
- Accessibility & Localization Plan.
- Style Guide & Design System.
- Interactive Prototypes.
Accessibility & Localization - To successfully lay the groundwork for consistently optimizing LNIP products, clear accessibility and localization targets were produced so that all design elements were flexible enough to meet the needs of users across a broad spectrum of markets/abilities.
Style Guide & Design System - With accessibility and localization considerations in mind, the UX team build a highly-detailed Style Guide document to unify design patterns across all IP applications; these design rules/patterns were then coded into a Design System to streamline ongoing development work.
Interactive Prototypes - Using Adobe XD to produce mockups and clickable prototypes, the UX team tested every revised layout and feature exhaustively to ensure that users found the new designs understandable and easy-to-use; this was key to ensuring a better user-experience while aligning the product to overall LexisNexis brand standards.
Testing & Validation
With a large and diverse body of users across the globe, frequent usability-testing was a key activity for driving design success across multiple markets.
Once redesigned interfaces and new features were tested, the UX team worked closely with the broader product team to identify, prioritize, and address any issues that presented themselves.
Apart from helping the UX team to validate designs and features, this was a critical shared activity that encouraged stakeholders, developers, and subject-matter experts to buy-in to further UX initiatives.
Deliverables Included:
- Usability-Testing.
- Process Feedback.
- Refinement Prioritization.
Usability-Testing, Affinity Mapping, & Refinement Prioritization - After each round of usability-testing, issues were categorized and prioritized for additional design refinements and testing; an added benefit of involving the core product team in this effort was that it encouraged contributions from all team members, and fostered a sense of purpose and achievement.