5 implementation examples for market leaders
An Online Self-Service Portal for Legalis (C.H. Beck)
C.H.BECK
Using learning-driven design to enable Legalis customers to manage their own purchasing process.
08 Feb 2021
Applying learning-driven design and working together with the C. H. Beck publishing house, we have designed an online configurator for accessing Legalis, a leading legal information system.
About C.H.Beck
The C. H. Beck publishing house has been operating in the Polish market since 1993. It issues publications in the fields of law, taxes, and economics, as well as academic and foreign-language literature.
One of its flagship products is Legalis, an online legal information system that features a continuously-updated knowledge base of legal facts, judicial decision history and commentary, legal systems, and monographies and journals published by C. H. Beck.
Easy self-service
This allows for a completely independent purchase process, from product selection to closing
Clarity
Each product has a clear description, making choices easier and less confusing
• Convenience
Customers can save a preliminary order and complete it later
Choice
Keeping consultants available for customers to contact helps the customers feel secure and confident when using the self-service tool
Creating Self-Service Tools
Owing to its high number of available modules and multiple system configuration options, Legalis used to be sold exclusively and directly by C. H. Beck advisors.
Our challenge was to create an online tool that helps small- and medium-sized law firms independently learn about, configure, and purchase Legalis.
"We wanted law firms to use this tool to independently build and configure Legalis according to their needs. We wanted them to feel secure and confident about their choices, just as they would when being assisted by an advisor".
The Learning-Driven Design Process
We worked as a small, multidisciplinary team in close cooperation with C. H. Beck representatives. We adopted a learning-driven design approach; this entails supplementing our understanding about various aspects of the designed solution at every stage of the process. Regular workshops were central to this paradigm; they motivated us to share new knowledge and run feedback sessions for the achieved outcomes.
The process was divided into several stages:
- Kickoff – This stage allowed us to create a common understanding of the project goal, de-compose the preliminary mock-ups previously designed by C. H. Beck employees, and set up an initial work backlog in terms of design.
- Knowledge collection – During this stage, we conducted workshops for the Legalis system, determined necessary functions for the configurator, and thoroughly studied Legalis’s existing communication materials, including price lists.
- Verification – We conducted short interviews with existing and prospective Legalis users. This allowed us to verify our assumptions and deepen them (thanks to the insights shared by law firm employees). We also implemented elements of netnography, checking what conversations are held by Internet users and which legal bases they are searching.
- Solution ideation – We generated ideas about the configurator’s functions and elements and selected the ones that would best match C. H. Beck’s goals.
- UX/UI design –This is the last stage, leading to the creation of final designs and model texts. The key outcome of this stage is the creation of artefacts that were ready for the development team.
Tools Applied
In this implementation, we employed elements of design thinking and service design methods, supplemented with our in-house solutions. We used the e-point Product Canvas and Tool Idea Canvas tools, which allowed us to achieve a clearer understanding of the business requirements (later included in the design brief as our project credentials).
At the ideation stage, we used empathy maps that brought us closer to the user’s perspective. We also used the concept of analogies-trends-inspirations to fuel our brainstorming sessions. Process maps and the service blueprint kept reminding us of the business logic underpinning the solution.
In the UX/UI design phase, our key tools were Sketch and the Sketch Measure plugin, which allowed us to quickly share element specifications with developers.
Outcome
Our cooperation involved designing a system that would be implemented by the customer. Thus, we had to create a design which would be very clear to the developers.
To ensure this outcome, we prepared the following:
- A document that specified functional requirements and defined the operational modes for all configurator functions.
- Screens with graphic interfaces and specifications (measurements, font styles, colors).
- A document containing the configurator microcopy, i.e. the texts telling the user what is going on and what action options are available.
"While designing this tool, we were well aware that our range was wide and our configuration options vast. We were impressed by how deeply e-point's team dug into the topic. They learned about our business and discovered analogies and room for innovation; then they used this knowledge to address our customers’ needs".
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