Overview
We have relied on folders, emails, and general device storage, to manage our contracts, often having to rely on human memory and aging storage techniques. These days we have many apps to provide contract signing and advice from legal experts, but these apps can be out of reach price wise to your typical user...

Con-Find combines the user's knowledge with free widely available knowledge from the internet to provide clarification in document terms, and a means of organization and storage at your fingertips.
Problem:

At the moment, there are 5 principles which are recommended for organizing contracts:

● Set Up an Online Database.
● Establish a File Naming Scheme.
● Create a Useful Folder System.
● Maintain Selective Sharing.
● Discard Outdated Items.

source:https://www.contractworks.com/

*During my research I discovered that poor contract management costed one of my user's company almost 3 million in 2020 alone!
Con-Find aims to consolidate this process into one sleek and efficient process and provide dictionary and personal jargon to give the user an extra edge when managing their contracts.
Con-Find's Intentions
● Provide digital storage for both digital AND physical contracts.

● Users can organize and manage the storage of their contracts.

● Help users define information.

● Allow users to make connections with their own intentions and jargon they use in their daily tasks and responsibilities.  
● Allow users to locate specific terms in one or many contracts

● The means of setting reminders for due dates and pay dates on clients

● Ability to store contact details for parties on involved with the contract.

● The ability to get advice from a trusted source.
Research
User research was conducted using Google Forms

Survey takers were sourced from students attending cohort 7 in the Thinkful program and users in the Concord, NC area via Facebook Groups

Age demographics ranged 18 to 40 years.
User Survey
Results
Which Platform Should this app be developed for?
Would this app help users feel more confident about using and managing contracts?
Does your work, medical services, or student status, require you to reference contracts on a routine basis?
How helpful would it be to search or highlight specific wording in your contract to provide further clarity to what you are signing?
Competitive Research
Legal Sifter was the closest to my vision for what I was trying to achieve, however the ability to sign and send contracts are our of scope for what I wanted to achieve, my app seeks to provide long time storage and reference to my user.

Based on my user feedback however, signing and sending contracts are something I seek to provide in the future as updates are added. Legal sifter also has a sleek means of showing definitions, updates and terms. The competitive edge I find with Con-Find is that all revisions, and bookmark appear as a modal over the contract UI. This may be because the Legal Sifter is a web based software, where Con-Find is for iPhone and Android platforms.
Forms by Legalshield had the ability to build sign and organize contract, a very close competitor when comparing apps. My strengths lie in the versatile upload features, and a simple and structured library format.

This app also lacks where Legal Sifter is much stronger in which is definitions and the look up feature. This app was rated a 3.0 out of 5 due to the same layout issues I mentioned before. It seems Con-Find can comfortably sit as a happy medium between Legal Sifter and Forms by Legalshield.
Ideation
User Persona
I modeled my first personal from my data I gathered and creating Angela as a type of user who would need this app to handle family and family business contracts.
Meet Angela.
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Fred prides himself on providing excellent customer service and his robust network he has built through his experience working in Real Estate and Tax preparation.
Goals

Fred, would like  an upper-middle class lifestyle, with  a local level of fame and consistent clients in his photography studio. He also aims to specialize in taking photos for local community events and local historical sites.

Pain Points

Between the 3 industries he is juggling at the moment, keeping up with deadlines, and what parties he is doing business with, things can become overwhelming, for Fred.
Fred's UX Journey Storyboard
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Sketches
Mockups
Layout and Elements
I started by sourcing inspiration from folder hierarchies from interfaces such as Windows and Google Drive.
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Contract Scanning Design
Visualizations for scanning contracts to the app began from referencing similar scanning features on standard cameras and Adobe Scanner.
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Bottom navigation
(Bottom navigation bars allow movement between primary destinations in an app.)
The bottom navigation bar is designed to be visible on all pages of the interface to give the user flexibility throughout the app.

From here the user can access the main home, library, physical contract scanning, bookmarks, and digital uploads.
Wireframes
Grader commentary on wireframe designs:
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Full Wireframes and Figma Version:
Click to Access Full Wireframe Image
Prototyping
Design Ideas
For the structure of the mainframe I referenced the Diaro app. This app was chosen due to it's high reviews and organized layout.

From the calendar feature to the organization interface, this app seemed like the perfect place to start from!
diaroapp.com
"Black text on a white background makes for the best readability, hence the best comprehension and retention.

Why?

Because the color white reflects all wavelengths of the visible spectrum. The iris does not need to widen in order to absorb more light."


source: www.androidauthority.com


Designed to bring more attention to the contract, how?
I chose red as the accent due to its low wavelength and a pale dark grey to provide relief to the eye.

This design allows the user to spend more eye power on the contracts, since there are important details for the user to focus on within the document.

This can also prove useful in low battery situations or on phones that have a low light output in general.
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Microcopy Examples
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Critiques
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User Testing
Round 1
Necessary Updates

Add capture button to camera because users can't quite make out how to take a picture on the interface when testing.

Create a "Continue" to the splash screen, there is nothing that lets user know to tap screen to continue.

Add security requirements and "pro version" modal to onboarding process so user will know when accessing the app what the security features are and how to access them.
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Round 2
Necessary Updates

Move security prompt to onboarding so users are more aware of security features the app has and how to access cloud and the ability to access app on additional devices from the beginning.

Flip the Temporary Contract icon vertically, may convey the wrong message about what can be completed using temporary contract feature.

Update wording of "Party Contact" to Parties to avoid confusing for "Contract".

Add "slider dots" to calendar to make users swipe screen instead of arrows.

Add "slider dots" to calendar to make users swipes screen instead of arrows.

● Create a means of tracking past contract history for user.
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Final Thoughts
&
Future Development
What Worked?

1. The scan interface was easy to use and most users liked the flexibility to upload from different storage platforms and websites.

2. The layout worked well due to repeated statements from users that they could execute a large number of tasks all while staying in what it felt like a closed and complete system.

3. Users liked the idea of reserving things like cloud storage and a widget for a paid pro version and many stated they would pay for these services should their profession require it.
What Didn't Work?

1. The font could use more work, users may benefit from the app being more "boring" more basic and straight than curved and warm feeling. A change could bring even greater focus to the contract document which should be the focus of the interface.


2. I personally felt as though the contract UI can be further designed and improved upon after a deeper study on adobe pdf interfaces.
What Would I Have Done Differently if Given More Time?

If given more time to perfect this app, I would find a better way to name and layout how a user could make bookmarks. I would also take more time in the contract UI creating a means where the user could create custom sections within the contract itself.

A user who tested also recommended a parsing feature for contracts to get details into certain bookmarks and contacts as well.  I believe this feature could work well with a custom create a section.
Things I Learned
You take apps like these for granted due to how boring things like contracts and documents at large can be, however without them it makes modern life hard to manage. Companies lose millions due to the lack of apps available to tackle some of the basic tasks in the office and administration. Providing something as simple as a filing system can provide infrastructure to innovations we are not even aware of.

I personally believe that improving apps that simplify the office workflow is still an industry which is ripe for further development. I even had a project manager pitch me working with him to get this developed for his company while conducting my user testing!
Additional Resources
Thank you for your time!
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