Making a powerful legal tool feel learnable

Thomson Reuters Legal Tracker was losing ground to competitors with more modern interfaces. Despite being a powerful tool for legal operations professionals, users described it as “clunky and unintuitive,” with a steep learning curve for core features.

Our challenge was to modernize the interface while maintaining the robust functionality that existing users relied on.

I was the key designer on this project. I ran the heuristic analysis and the competitive review, took part in the interviews and testing with our researcher, and owned the redesign of the two areas users struggled with most: the homepage and the report builder.

We started with a heuristic analysis to evaluate the current state of the service, then ran a qualitative study with interviews of LegalOps professionals and a competitive analysis of close competitors.

Competitive analysis

We compared Legal Tracker with its main competitor, noting key differences in:

• —Visual design and modern aesthetics
• —Workflow efficiency and task completion
• —Information hierarchy and organization
• —Onboarding experience for new users

Initial user interviews

We conducted a qualitative study with 6 interviews of LegalOps professionals. Participants interacted with prototypes, providing insights into their current pain points and reactions to our proposed solutions.

Usability testing

To validate our design solution we conducted 8 usability testing sessions focused on report-building functionality.

Steep learning curve

Users struggled with complex features, particularly Reports, which required significant time investment to master.

Time-consuming workflows

Creating and reviewing reports was inefficient, often requiring multiple attempts.

Interface expectations

While users appreciated aesthetic improvements, they expected more substantial usability enhancements.

Current state audit

We began by auditing the existing interface, identifying key pain points:

• —Cluttered homepage with poor information hierarchy
• —Complex report creation process with limited guidance
• —Inconsistent status indicators causing confusion
• —Lack of personalization options

The audit and the interviews pointed at the same two places, so that is where the redesign went: the homepage people land on every morning, and the report builder they avoided until they had to use it.

We redesigned the homepage and report-builder features.

Homepage transformation

• —Customizable layout allowing users to prioritize relevant information
• —“Recently viewed matters” section for quick access to current work
• —Urgent action items prominently displayed
• —Improved invoice visibility with clear status indicators

Reimagined reports experience

• —Clearer categorization of report types
• —Enhanced search and filtering capabilities
• —Preview functionality to reduce trial-and-error
• —Simplified report builder with better guidance

The redesign targeted the two things users named as the cost of the product: a homepage that showed everything except what was urgent, and a report builder that took weeks to learn. Both were reworked and validated in testing before handoff.