Design Through Feedback
ContentSnare's enhanced system led to faster request completion and reduced support tickets through clearer navigation and simplified user experience.
Ooh the Australians, great guys easy to work with. Learned a lot from them and we managed to completely redesign their end user experience. I know you want to hear how I’ve brought them shit load of money, and then some more data to validate how “great” of a designer I am, buuuut...there’s none of that here. You can enjoy the UI, which in my opinion is quite good and improves the UX a lot. Request completion feature just went into production and I can’t wait to hear user feedback. I believe both clients and myself are satisfied with how everything came out. I don’t want to bother you with details, but I can tell you that a lot of decisions made here are based on user feedback.
Intro
ContentSnare helps businesses collect content and information from their clients through structured request forms. Their platform reduces back-and-forth communication and streamlines content gathering processes.
Our mission focused on improving the request feature's user experience for both end-users and request creators. Key challenges included:
- Field design improvements for clearer hierarchical information
- Sidebar navigation enhancement with distinct visual states
- Comment system redesign for better message distinction
- Mid-user interface updates including recurring request feature
- Terminology simplification across the platform
Working on improving this aimed to reduce user friction while maintaining system functionality. Current phase involves measuring impact through user feedback and metrics to guide future iterations.
In the Space Between Two Minds...
Building on Established User Feedback
ContentSnare started with talks about goals. Their team collected user feedback through interviews, which became the foundation for our next steps.
The data needed structure. We planned a workshop to sort through user insights. We made an agenda. Set times. Listed activities, butContentSnare walked in with their priorities set. The workshop went off-script - yet this turned into information we needed.
We moved to do an audit of their request feature through end-user eyes. We compared feedback to function. Users struggled with navigation while ContentSnare wanted to give freedom within limits. This became our focus.
The ContentSnare team caught details others might miss. They pushed for solutions to edge cases. This drive led to features like a progress bar that celebrates users finishing each section.
The Pattern Hidden in Plain Sight..
Understanding User Friction Points
The request feature presented several challenges in user interaction. The issues centered around submission clarity, terminology, and structural constraints.
Users struggled with the submission process. Many missed the submit button for individual questions, leading to incomplete requests and automatic reminders. The system lacked clear indicators of request completion status and celebratory feedback upon completion.
The terminology created confusion. Terms like "reject" and "submit for review" caused concern among users. The "approve all" button's placement in the top right went unnoticed by many users.
Structure flexibility emerged as a key issue. The mandatory section organization didn't suit simple requests. Users wanted options to skip non-required fields without "submitting" empty answers. They needed distinction between temporary and permanent skips.
The builder interface needed improvement in functionality. Users couldn't add fields between existing ones, test conditional logic, or easily reorder items. The preview differed from the final view, affecting user understanding of the end result.
Visual elements required attention. Users requested customizable font colors, better status indicators, and improved comment visibility. The current field validation display consumed excessive space, and status colors needed conversion to icons.
Field Interface Optimization
The fields in Content Snare's request system needed refinement in several areas. Each field contained multiple input elements, with terminology causing user hesitation - particularly around "reject" and "submit for review" actions.
The help text system overwhelmed users when multiple instructions appeared, diluting important information. Our solution reorganized field information hierarchically, making critical details stand out. We enhanced field states to communicate status through visual cues rather than text. The layout improvements included streamlined action options and new error handling. Users can now navigate while maintaining awareness of incomplete required fields.
The new design supports optional field handling without empty submissions. This eliminates user confusion while maintaining data integrity. Field states now communicate clearly through visual design rather than relying on explicit terminology.
Visual Navigation System
The sidebar served as primary navigation through complex forms, listing all fields for user access. Initial design placed all elements at equal visual weight, obscuring hierarchy and current position.
We separated the progress tracking into its own component, focusing the sidebar on navigation and status. New color coding distinguishes active from inactive sections. Enhanced icons communicate field states more effectively.
This redesign maintains visual distinction between sections without overwhelming users, creating clear hierarchy while preserving quick navigation access.Users can now track their position, understand field states, and navigate efficiently through the form structure.
Message Thread Refinement
The comment system lacked visual separation between user and client messages. Background colors now indicate message states while icons show message types. Personal comments align right, creating clear ownership. The internal mode features prominent indicators when users switch from default view.These changes maintain system familiarity while improving message distinction and communication clarity.
Every Change Brings Us Forward...
Request Creation Enhancement
End-user design improvements influenced the mid-user interface. Updates covered dashboard layout, filter organization, and banner information display.
The recurring request feature needed special attention. Despite simple concept, implementation required multiple steps. With limited user data, we conducted feature audit first.
Changes focused on layout optimization and content clarity. This new feature introduced a different approach to request creation. Initial implementation came from client feedback, leading to targeted improvements in structure and messaging.Performance metrics remain pending as users adopt these changes.
The Space Between Past and Future...
Results
Project's impact measurement phase is active. We track user interaction with new features and gather data on adoption patterns. This evaluation covers all improvements - from field design to recurring requests. Results will inform future refinements.
Lessons Learned
It proved that rigid structure isn't essential for success. The ContentSnare team's commitment and adaptability enabled effective solutions despite initial process variations. Quality emerged from collaboration rather than strict organization.
Moving Forward
Future iterations will build on actual usage patterns, adapting features to match user workflows and preferences. This approach keeps development aligned with user requirements rather than assumptions.