The Thomson Reuters Legal team were working on a new product that would streamline and modernize the task management system for small to medium size law firms. They asked us, the Applied Innovation team in San Francisco, if we could help consult on the user experience of task management.
Around the same time we were working on a laying out an ideal path for machine dialogue in a real life scenario—like appealing a parking ticket using a chat bot.
“The Happy Path” for machine dialogue diagram
We were really happy with our machine dialogue assessment, and wanted to take the same approach by breaking down task and task management the same way.
What is the journey of a task?
We began by asking:
What is a task?
What types of tasks and categories of tasks are there?
How does the definition of a task differ between types of users?
Do certain types of users tend to have more tasks of a certain priority?
Does the type of user affect the task’s journey?
Does the type of user affect how and where tasks are stored?
How and where are tasks stored?
Are different types of tasks stored differently?
Does the location of where or how the task is stored/recorded ever change?
Does anything happen to existing tasks when a new task is created?
What causes a task to be completed before its deadline
What happens to the priority of the task as its deadline approaches?
Do tasks typically have deadlines?
“What is a the journey of a task?” diagram
Storyboarded a couple of early concepts to give us something to go back to during our research.
And our assumptions were:
Priority increases towards deadline
Priority fluctuates over time as new tasks appear / old tasks are completed
Users are discouraged from changing task management systems because they already use something that works for them
Discouraging: manually entering and updating status of every task
Encouraging: increased efficiency, ease of use, popularity of system
Adoption over time, certain aspects quicker or sooner than others
Recommendation from coworkers, peers, or company
New tech from a trusted source
Motivators: peers in the industry, coworkers habits, company’s traditions, willingness to try something new, tired of certain aspects and wanting a change
In order for us answer these questions and validate our assumptions, we needed to speak with users.
Who exactly are the users?
The new Legal product was targeting small to medium law firms. The majority of the users were lawyers or associates (junior to senior levels), but with smaller firms the lawyer is usually the same person that owns the practice.
The user research
We drafted a research plan, timeline, and budget for approval from leadership. Once approved we set out our goals for the study:
Understand the life of a task: what happens to a task between creation and completion
Understand task management motivators: what encourages and discourages users to use task management systems.
Understand why, when, and how users adopt task management systems.
The methodology
We chose a simple 1:1 interview format to encourage stories and anecdotes. This kept us from steering the interview, and helped us understand participants’ task management processes, user behaviors, and motivators.
We spoke to lawyers and legal professionals in person in San Francisco, and held remote sessions with lawyers from around the country, and paid them for their participation. Our participants consisted of: 7 associates, 2 senior associates, and 1 litigation case manager. They were pooled from the WestLaw user base.
Format: Question and answer 1:1 interview
Location: In person in San Francisco or Webex
Study Length: 60 minutes
Our findings
Excerpt from our full report
Goal: Understand the life of a task: what happens to a task between creation and completion
As the deadline approaches, the priority level does indeed increase, but its value and importance remains mostly the same.
When new tasks come in, in-flight tasks will usually take precedence, unless the new task has an urgent deadline or it’s a high priority request from partner and/or client.
Takeaway: Tasks and tasks lists are fluid.
Goal: Understand task management motivators: what encourages and discourages users to use task management systems.
Entering tasks into a software feels like another task/extra layer
One piece of software isn’t translatable across devices
It would have to be comprehensive, meet needs, make things easier
Writing tasks down is tactile, can’t ignore it like you can ignore an email
Takeaway: Current online task tracking tools require too much focus/time to use and don’t have necessary features, i.e. linking to documents, dynamic sharing with others, etc
Goal: Understand why, when, and how users adopt task management systems.
Would consider it if firm or fellow lawyer recommended it
Clients (large companies, not so much individuals) impose new technologies onto attorneys—tell a client it will make the attorney more efficient, they will support it
For small firms—cost is the deciding factor
Takeaway: New technologies can be adopted as long as it is recommended by a trusted source.
Credits
Team lead: Marine Leroux-Thibault
UX Research: Jennifer Lee
Design: Nicole Black
Project management: Shelly Albaum