Lukas Whiting - Product Design Portfolio

LWDesign

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LWDesign

Work

About

Contact

LWDesign

Work

About

Contact

Smarter Drafter Pro

Re-architecting a legal document automation platform for large scale data sharing.

I co-created the core data-sharing model with the PM, and owned the UX flows and UI execution - transforming fragmented information, repetitive data entry, and complex form filling into an intuitive, systemised experience.

Re-architecting a legal document automation platform for large scale data sharing.

Year

NEW

2025

platform

b2b saas

Roles

Data-model co-creation

UX flows & UI modernisation

UX/ui design

product
management

project Overview

Rebuilding the foundation for a clearer, reusable data ecosystem

Smarter Drafter Pro is an enterprise-grade legal-tech platform for generating accurate legal documents through form-filling.

But firms needed the platform to better retain and reuse matter data entered into a form, to avoid re-keying and speed up document generation.

The existing architecture couldn’t support this, so the PM and I created the Matter Record concept: a new system defining how data is structured, reused, and surfaced across the platform.

The PM led discovery and brought the initial insights and conceptual direction; I locked in the mental model and owned the UX strategy and design execution.

Smarter Drafter Pro is an enterprise-grade legal-tech platform for generating accurate legal documents through form-filling.

But firms needed the platform to better retain and reuse matter data entered into a form, to avoid re-keying and speed up document generation.

The existing architecture couldn’t support this, so the PM and I created the Matter Record concept: a new system defining how data is structured, reused, and surfaced across the platform.

The PM led discovery and brought the initial insights and conceptual direction; I locked in the mental model and owned the UX strategy and design execution.

Discovery & insights

What users needed the system to do

Several clear themes emerged across ongoing conversations with customers:

Current data assignment was unintelligent and burdensome.
Our data storage system was misaligned with real legal workflows.
Users didn’t want to see complex tables without good reason - they expected matter data to fill automatically and predictably.

Critically, two major firms were delaying go-live until data-sharing met their needs.

These insights clarified the initiative: create a matter-centric data reuse model that catered to their workflows, urgently.

Several clear themes emerged across ongoing conversations with customers:

Current data assignment was unintelligent and burdensome.
Our data storage system was misaligned with real legal workflows.
Users didn’t want to see complex tables without good reason - they expected matter data to fill automatically and predictably.

Critically, two major firms were delaying go-live until data-sharing met their needs.

These insights clarified the initiative: create a matter-centric data reuse model that catered to their workflows, urgently.

Unexpectedly (and thankfully), interview research I conducted on a separate project surfaced flaws in our data-sharing model.

BEFORE: Unclear terminology (assigning Roles to Roles), long selection lists and sources that didn't align with real legal workflows.

the challenges

Unstructured data, unclear mental models, and endless rekeying

The existing architecture presented several friction points in fixing the model:

Data had only ever been stored as 'Roles' - even matter-specific data like 'Trial Details' - creating unclear mental models.
We only stored form submission data - nothing was stored in connection to the broader matter.
Prior submission data wasn’t categorised, forcing users to make selections from broad, unfiltered buckets.

The existing architecture presented several friction points in fixing the model:

Data had only ever been stored as 'Roles' - even matter-specific data like 'Trial Details' - creating unclear mental models.
We only stored form submission data - nothing was stored in connection to the broader matter.
Prior submission data wasn’t categorised, forcing users to make selections from broad, unfiltered buckets.

"We faced a massive challenge [with the Matter Record]: creating a way to re-use data across a highly complex, legacy data structure to enable external integrations.

Lukas navigated significant technical constraints and historical workflows to design a seamless, intuitive experience."

"We faced a massive challenge [with the Matter Record]: creating a way to re-use data across a highly complex, legacy data structure to enable external integrations.

Lukas navigated significant technical constraints and historical workflows to design a seamless, intuitive experience."

TENZIN LAMA

TENZIN LAMA

Product Manager, Tensis (Smarter Drafter Pro)

Constraints & tradeoffs

Letting go of the ideal in favour of stability and functionality

With legacy data models, technical debt, and two pending deals, V1 needed pragmatic, low-risk UX choices.

My proposal to move the pre-flight 'Start Form' flow to its own page was out of scope, so the existing modal had to carry more content than ideal. I focused on clarity, predictability, and fewer clicks - accepting temporary UX compromises until we could build a cleaner solution.

With legacy data models, technical debt, and two pending deals, V1 needed pragmatic, low-risk UX choices.

Before: The existing behaviour of side panels appearing over modals needed reworking, but the complexity of the backend meant changing this ultimately fell out of scope for V1.

AFTER: To ship safely and on time, the new model had to live within the existing UI, with the addition of clearer data-source selection and added guidance via copy, tooltips, and banners. A later phase will move this flow to its own page for a lighter, clearer UX.

restructuring the model

Record Types: separating reusable vs matter-specific data

After iterating with internal and external power users, I refined and formalised the model. Record Types became the key to unlocking the new Matter Record system.

To support learning and enablement, I distilled the concept to a single clear sentence:

“Each Matter contains data stored as Record Types — some are Roles (reusable across matters, with assigned Entities), others are Matter Details (with values unique to that Matter).”

This shift resolved long-standing clarity issues by defining what data was reusable and what had to remain matter-specific.

After iterating with internal and external power users, I refined and formalised the model. Record Types became the key to unlocking the new Matter Record system.

To support learning and enablement, I distilled the concept to a single clear sentence:

“Each Matter contains data stored as Record Types — some are Roles (reusable across matters, with assigned Entities), others are Matter Details (with values unique to that Matter).”

This shift resolved long-standing clarity issues by defining what data was reusable and what had to remain matter-specific.

The model:

First time filling a form: If no data exists yet, the form-filler enters it manually and it’s saved to the Matter Record.

First time filling in a form for a Matter: Existing data may or may not exist, therefore the form filler may need to manually enter the information (to be stored in the Matter Record).
Next time filling in a form: Entities will automatically be assigned based on data stored in the Matter Record from previous submissions, and any existing data will pre-fill the form and thus the document.

First time filling a form: If no data exists yet, the form-filler enters it manually and it’s saved to the Matter Record.

Next time filling a form: Stored entities auto-assign to Roles and Matter Details - any existing data pre-fills the form and document.

creating the experience 01

Rebuilding the entire data-sharing experience

From creating and managing Record Types as an admin, to mapping Roles and Matter Details to form fields in the Builder, through to assigning and pre-filling data as a form-filler, I focused on reducing confusion, building trust and guidance and eliminating repeated data entry.

Creating & managing Record Types: I employed banners and tooltips to aid with concept adoption, while colour-coded badges and clear actions made complex data groupings easy to comprehend and organise.

Benefit-driven copy makes clear how linking a Matter unlocks pre-filling and data reuse functionalities.

Pre-fill data appears instantly after linking, with the Review panel collapsed by default to prioritise fast starts.

With a more complex model, handling conflicts was necessary.

Expanding the Review section allowed for deeper visibility, and a guided and predictable conflict resolution process.

With a more complex model, handling conflicts was necessary.

Expanding the Review section allowed for deeper visibility, and a guided and predictable conflict resolution process.

With a more complex model, handling conflicts was necessary.

Expanding the Review section allowed for deeper visibility, and a guided and predictable conflict resolution process.

Now we had a consistent way to store and surface entities, roles, and matter details, we were able to introduce Custom Data Sources.

The PM wrote the requirements and I led the design of the Custom Data Sources configuration experience: a new request by enterprise clients to allow them to integrate previously unsupported third-party systems and map external fields to our matter structure via API.

Now we had a consistent way to store and surface entities, roles, and matter details, we were able to introduce Custom Data Sources.

creating the experience 02

Enabling external data connections with Custom Data Sources

the impact

A scalable data structure ready for AI-assisted drafting, and new integration possibilities.

My work on the Matter Record system:

Led to reduced time spent on the 'Start form' pre-flight modal, allowing users to start their forms faster and with more trust.
Positioned the platform for AI-assisted drafting (the next phase)
Boosted adoption of data-sharing features by making the underlying model easier to understand.

My work on the Matter Record system:

Led to reduced time spent on the 'Start form' pre-flight modal, allowing users to start their forms faster and with more trust.
Positioned the platform for AI-assisted drafting (the next phase)
Boosted adoption of data-sharing features by making the underlying model easier to understand.

"Lukas' ability to visualise and simplify the Matter Record concept helped me align stakeholders and technology partners easily. The feature led immediately to closing two major deals for the company and its success has led to a high proportion of our developer capacity being dedicated to continue to extend the feature."

"Lukas' ability to visualise and simplify the Matter Record concept helped me align stakeholders and technology partners easily. The feature led immediately to closing two major deals for the company and its success has led to a high proportion of our developer capacity being dedicated to continue to extend the feature."