OVERVIEW
Business 101 : Contracts
A critical component of operating any business is the management of contracts between clients.
ShootProof contracts provide users with tools to create contracts, send to their clients, capture
signatures, and maintain record in one location.
ShootProof aims to strike a balance between Business Management and Photo Delivery tools
for Photographers. An essential step in doing business as a client-based photographer is
drafting and sending Contracts. We want to provide additional value to our customers -
earlier in their workflow - by helping photographers secure clients and generate business.
BUSINESS OBJECTIVE
Improve product value to customer earlier in their business workflow
As part of the ShootProof company vision to become the #1 online hub for client-based
photographers to run their business, contracts help to solidify that promise by allowing users to
secure clients, process invoices, and deliver photos, all within one application.
Create a solution that is easy-to-use, familiar
Our users range from amateur to professional not just in photography experience, but also in
business management skill. Contracts will provide a way to draft, save, and manage contracts in a
way that is familiar to other contract drafting tools, but also within established ShootProof patterns.
Reduce contract drafting time by offering contract templates from trusted photographers
Users who struggle with drafting contracts and need a jump-start can purchase contract templates
created by trusted photographers in the industry. Contract templates can be purchased from the
Contracts Marketplace and can be purchased during the contract creation flow.
______________
Core Features
1. Contract Drafting - WYSIWYG Editor
2. Contract Templates and Management
3. Contract Marketplace - eCommerce
Later Update
4. Linking Contracts to Invoices - Multiple Feature Integration
UNDERSTANDING USER NEEDS
Customer personas for Contracts span from amateur part-time photographer to full-time studio owner.
Final Persona Comps by Terry Allen.
User Interviews
I worked with the UX Director to develop user test script, facilitate sessions, and note-taking.
Our goal was to understand photographer's business workflows, their process of drafting and
utilizing contracts, as well as pain points that may hinder their use of contracts.
These findings were captured in a shared Google Form and later analyzed in Google Sheets and
Google Docs. Our findings lead to identifying distinct "camps" in regards to contracts.
______________
Stakeholder Interviews
I met with stakeholders to gain an understanding of the various department goals.
Securing clients earlier in the photographer's workflow was seen as especially valuable to Customer
Support, Marketing, and Business teams.
Subject Matter Expert Interview
We learned about the things we can and cannot do, with regards to copy on buttons, banner
message labels, helper text, checkboxes, etc. were all informed by interviews with professional
lawyers who work in the photography industry.
Competitive Research and Analysis
We researched a number of tools that provide Contracting services either as a part of a suite of
tools, or standalone. Agree.com, Honeybooks, DocuSign, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Word, OneNote,
Evernote, Square Cash, are just a sampling of a number of related products.
______________
Customer Journey : Including Photographer and Client Tasks.
EXPLORING SOLUTIONS
Word Processing Essentials
After reviewing a number of similar word processing and contract drafting applications, we decided
to explore a solution that would include standards users expect, supplemented with features unique
to ShootProof.
- Rich Text formatting
- Client Data Variables : Link a contact to dynamically populate client data into contract templates.
- Send to Client via Email
- Signature Capture
- Save as PDF
Whiteboard Sketch. Contracts Index, Template, Edit, and View states.
______________
Contracts Marketplace eCommerce Experience
The Contracts Marketplace is designed to make drafting contracts easier for users, and with higher
confidence by purchasing contract templates in the Contracts Marketplace, that are ready to use
during the new contract flow.
- Browse Product Grid
- View Bundles and Single
- View Product Details
- Cart and Checkout Flow
- Create Contract from Purchased Template...
Whiteboard wire flow sketch. Contracts Marketplace integration with Contracts. E-commerce experience.
______________
Signature Capture
Capturing signatures from both the Studio, and the Client is essential to securing an agreement.
The volume and big brand customer personas have an additional need to store signatures and send
reminder emails.
PREPARING TO BUILD
The Bird's Eye View
Once a general flow was agreed upon, we began building the first iteration of the contract feature.
The Product team was aware that implementing the feature would have cascading effects -- the
Impact Map below helped to illustrate necessary updates throughout the application.
Feature Impact Map. High-level view of impacted pages and features due to Contracts.
The Details
Using the whiteboard wireflows and feedback from stakeholders, my job was to incorporate the
changes while calibrating against design patterns for both desktop and mobile. The goal was to get
a first version of the Contract feature released to test with users and iterate quickly thereafter.
Wireframe.
Rich text editor for editing contracts on Mobile.
Wireframe.
Contracts view on Desktop and Mobile.
Contract has been drafted and is ready to send to Client. Desktop and Mobile.
Hi-Fidelity Comps by Matt Pence.
Contract ready to send to client via email. Desktop and Mobile.
Hi-Fidelity Comps by Matt Pence.
Contracts Marketplace. Contract templates for purchase on Desktop and Mobile.
Hi-Fidelity Comps by Matt Pence.
OBSERVING RESULTS
4 Product Features Integrated
We successfully integrated the Contracts feature into the existing application. Contracts touches
three other major features ; Contacts, Invoices, and Emails.
39% of Users Take Advantage of ShootProof Contracts
From a survey pool of over 300 responses, 39% of users leverage ShootProof Contracts as
opposed to an outside contracting application or manual process.
70% of Users Link Contracts to Invoices
Feature utilization for is very high for Linking Contracts to Invoices. The vast majority of users are
securing business with clients by sending Contracts and Invoices together.
TEAM
Business and Leadership
UX Director
Sr. UX Architect
Sr. UI Designer
Back End Development
Front End Development
Customer Support
ShootProof Users
MY ROLE
User Research
Stakeholder Interviews
Competitive Research
User Journey
Task Analysis
Process Flows
Brainstorming
Sketching
Interaction Design
Prototyping
Design Iteration
User Feedback
