A 0-1 product to replace clunky PDF forms. Generated >0.25M in GNMRR.
Jan 22 - Jul 24
Overview
Problem
PDFs are clunky and our users want to provide their clients with a more modern experience.
My Role
- Launched a new 0-1 product as the sole designer, owning platform level thinking for the form builder.
- Scaled design team from a solo role to a team of 3 & a user researcher, delivering a full scale release to 400 customers.
- Prioritized key features to drive activation: onboarding, customization, data & accessibility, resulting in over
14K active forms.
Solution
A beautiful online form builder to collect data that integrates with other DocuSign products.
My Team
- Director of product
- 10 developers (3 front-end)
- 2 guest designers (post v0 release)
- User researcher (post v0 release)
Key Designs
Core Experience: Form Builder
A simple, three-panel interface.
Expanding functionality: branding
Letting users showcase their brand to add
delight and build trust.
Connecting to the DocuSign ecosystem
Connecting form fields to another product for an
end-to-end automated workflow
v0: An accelerated release
V0: User & Goals
User: Our target user was a Form Creator at a medium-sized company looking to digitize their physical forms created in DocuSign. They needed a customizable data collection tool that would integrate with other DocuSign products.
Goal: The primary metric for success was to improve activation rate among our target enterprise customers.
V0: My Challenge
My challenge was to take an internal demo product and transform it into a live, user-facing product on an accelerated timeline. This meant balancing speed with a high-quality user experience while making trade-offs to prepare the product for a full public release.
V0: The Designs
Decluttering the demo designs
Keeping the product lightweight
v1: Scaling for growth
After a successful initial launch, our project shifted into a new phase. As our team grew, with the onboarding of a dedicated user researcher and 2 new designers, the focus moved to adding more depth and value to the product.
To achieve this, I implemented the following process:
Gathering insights
I worked closely with our new user researcher to validate our assumptions & inform prioritization.
Prioritization workshop
I ran a prioritization workshop with our cross-functional team to align on the design roadmap.
Defining design principles
l Ied a jam with the designers to define component principles, ensuring that we spoke the same language.
V1: My designs
Branding & customization
Empowering users to customize the form's appearance to match their brand. Click images to see details.
Data connections
Helped users link form fields to another DocuSign product, so they could automate their workflow from data collection to signature. Click images to see details. Granular connections view Users could verify key field connections while building the form Summary connections view Users could review all field connections at-a-glance
Accessibility
To win government and healthcare contracts, we needed an accessible product and a VPAT certificate. By designing with a11y-first principles and pairing closely with developers, I avoided costly reworks and met these requirements from the start. Accessibile Components Annotated new components & paired with developers for an a11y friendly product VPAT certification + org wide presentation After our product received its VPAT with above average results, my 2 colleagues and I presented on designing for a11y to the entire DocuSign design team
Results
Web Forms activated
The product saw significant early adoption and success, across total forms activated and # unique visitors.
Sticky product at DocuSign
Web Forms was ranked the #4 "stickyproduct" at DocuSign out of 67, a metric set by the data science team.
GNMRR
Our product drove significant revenue growth by attracting new, paying customers in its first year.
Learnings
Thriving in the deep end
- It was stressful being new to the team, but I learned that I can thrive under pressure and navigate relationships by focusing on my strengths.
Incremental impact
- I learned to strategically improve UX by delivering a series of incremental changes that respected technical limitations.
Earning a seat at the table
- I learned to become the product expert for my team, even as a non-senior member. This allowed me to confidently advocate for UX and influence key directions.
Illustration Credit: Humation
Web Forms