Demandwell
Title: UX Designer, UI Designer
Project Type: Web App
Tools Used: Figma, Jam, Otter, Zoom, Notion, Google Workspace, GitHub, Pendo, Gong.io
Demandwell is a start-up company that helps customers grow their SEO organically through consultation and platform automation. They are based in Indianapolis, IN with approximately 50 employees.
Demandwell’s software provides clients with tools for metric reporting, keyword generation, content production, performance tracking and site monitoring.
The company was always working to improve and innovate features on the software to keep up with an evolving digital climate and ensure our clients had the edge in their markets.
My Role
During my tenure, I was the lead designer on three main products:
Reporting 1.1
Content Order Emails
Freemium
I collaborated with two product managers, and our CTO, finally coordinating the handoff with engineering.
Throughout the whole design process, we gathered and applied feedback from stakeholders such as our CEO, Director of Engineering, Head of Services, and SEO consultants as needed.
Once final designs were vetted by the necessary stakeholders, files were prepared for handoff.
After the initial handoff, I was available for questions and revisions through QA as needed from said stakeholders.
Product Spotlight: Reporting 1.1
For this case study, I’ll be analyzing and commentating on the product development for the update rollout for Demandwell’s Reporting app.
The platform had an embattled road to shipment and launch.
As I joined the team, our primary concern was optimizing the product so that the Product Team could shift their focus to the needs of the C-Suite and shareholders, and on other more pressing product needs.
The Process:
Challenges & Discovery
LACK OF METRIC VISIBILITY
Insights gathered from discussions with users and consultants reflected a clear dissatisfaction with Demandwell’s proprietary Reporting app.
The main shortfall of the platform experience was an inability to easily visualize and communicate metric totals singularly and against each other in a multi-view capacity.
(Show above is an example of the pre-update state of how users were viewing their reporting data)
OVERLOOKED NECESSITIES
In addition to single and multi-metric visualizations, a variety of small housekeeping features were also needed for Reporting 1.1.
These additions included a cost-per-click metric integration, a y-axis toggle for viewing multiple selections against a timeline, a way for users to export all their report data to a .csv file along with email notifications, and a content filter for users to view the effectiveness of their published content within a certain timeframe.
SIMPLICITY OVER STYLE
This software’s purpose was to make our customers’ lives easier. Therefore, we chose to value simplicity over intricate and flashy design. We wanted to understand the top needs of our users and meet those objectives as directly as possible.
Research
The primary challenge I needed to solve and research for Reporting 1.1 was metric visualization.
My primary source of inspiration in regard to the metric totals visualization feature for this product was Google Search Console’s (GSC) metric total visualization
Knowing the user would likely be switching between GSC and Demandwell’s Reporting app, I wanted to utilize their familiarity with Google’s interface and expand upon it to provide a seamless experience for them as they moved between products.
This informed me to maintain the user’s familiarity with the UI of the app so they wouldn’t feel jarred going back and forth between Demandwell’s Reporting app and GSC.
Lastly, for efficient engineering, I dove into our own product suite for design assets and common stylistic themes that would not require new builds and could translate easily into our new features.
Design
Thanks to excellent cross-functional communication and collaboration with my PM, we were able to complete the iterative process for the initial MVP more quickly than I had estimated.
Single Metric Totals:
Since the goal here is to simply
give the display of tracking multiple
keywords, I went with a horizontal
slider-esque bar with all the desired
and said keywords.
Given that the line graph is the
central visual tool users are
utilizing, I didn’t want to detract
too much from the main feature of
the reporting app.
Multi-metric Totals
Unlike the aforementioned
single metric totals, multi-metric
reporting totals required an equal
balance of highlighting the
“add metric” with color designation
and reflecting that onto the line
graph in a dynamic, responsive way.
The primary areas I focused on were
making sure that the colored boxes
representing the metrics
Y-axis toggle
.CSV Export
Content filters
Final Handoff and Shipment
The engineering team and I were able to complete the features utilizing and adapting available assets already in our software where we could, and designing new assets as needed. Ultimately, we were able to achieve the usability and functions our clients needed.
(show images)
Problems Solved
Ultimately, the main issues faced by clients on a daily basis was metric visibility. I was able to solve those issues in three different ways:
By addressing the main concerns around providing a new template for metric and keyword totals respectively, it allows for Demandwell’s multi-metric and single metric reporting tool to work the way it was intended, catering to a fundamental user pain-point that empowers them to make full use of the software
By providing users with crucial features like integrating the cost-per-click metric on the included metrics that can be tracked, users are licensed to observe, either in real time or over a given period, how much they’re earning and saving utilizing Demandwell’s powerful SEO suite
By giving marketing directors and companies the ability to export their reporting data to a catch-all .csv file, allowing them to utilize the data gleaned from DW’s Reporting app to the fullest extent
Conclusion
Demandwell wanted a Reporting app patch that wasn’t going to need updating for the fiscal year, especially given the remaining needs of their yearly product scope.
Being able to optimize a product to the point where it won’t need a patch for the foreseeable future is always challenging because it's impossible to preempt possible roadblocks and user needs.
On this product, I prioritized simple design to provide a practical and high-functioning solution to our clients. Choosing to balance maximum impact and efficiency meant designing clean and sensible UX with repurposed features, effectively meeting user pain-points and stakeholder requirements alike.