dealWIP
dealWIP is a project management and workflow tool that enables M&A lawyers and other deal professionals to collaborate on due diligence more efficiently.
In 2017, a group of three old college friends decided to quit their jobs as M&A attorneys to launch a legaltech startup, dealWIP. They had experienced firsthand the painful, sloppy process of conducting due diligence through emails and spreadsheets, and saw an opportunity to transform that process.
Application
Web App
Role
UX Lead
UX Design
UI Design
Prototyping
User Testing
Tools
Sketch
Zeplin
Collaborators
Product Owner
3 Engineers
1 QA
Challenge
The due diligence process is complicated. Hundreds of dense documents are exchanged, coordination with multiple teammates is needed to tackle inquiries, and progress needs to be tracked for reporting to partners and clients.
The workflows need to feel intuitive to a below-average comfort level with technology. Information needs to be quickly and easily understood in a busy professional’s workday where they have zero time to waste.
Teams need insight into overall diligence progress for reporting to superiors and clients. Understanding team and individual progress, as well as collecting an ongoing issues list was a critical feature to make this work for our users.
Solution
I was brought onto the project with an unreleased MVP 80% complete. My first goal was to streamline app styles and flows for go-to-market. Through interviews with users, I got a firsthand glimpse at the general resistance to change and discomfort with technology. The UI and UX improvements I made focused on accomplishing visual simplicity, providing an intuitive interface, clear language, and establishing appropriate information hierarchy.
I also designed several new features that enriched the app’s project management capabilities and overall diligence workflow.
Tasks
A user’s assignments are displayed in a prioritized inbox to assist with individual workflow. Tasks are categorized by status and sorted by most recent activity. When a user clicks a task, they can review the updated information and take action if appropriate - all without leaving the screen.
Red Flags
A deal team can keep track of issues discovered during diligence, making notes along the way.
Import Requests
Diligence can begin faster by importing requests from a file or saved template.
dealWIP UI
Skills
UI Design
Visual Design
Whiteboarding
Wireframing
Prototyping
Quality Assurance
Beta Testing
Documentation
Client Onboarding
User Flows
User Interviews
User Reearch
User Testing
Information Architecture
UX Lead
Cross-functional collaboration
Presenting to stakeholders
Client facing role