Background

Creating a user-friendly client portal

Contract Cloud is a start-up that aims to uplift small businesses by helping them win government contracts. They use data-based algorithms to find clients high-match rate contracts. Clients can select from these contracts and have Contract Cloud's team of experts win these opportunities.

I was tasked to help design and build their portal application, the interface seen when clients check their contract progress. To advise our design decisions and create a MVP, our team conducted user research that included direct insight from current customers.

Problem

How might we make the government contracting process less complex?

With customers trickling in, we wanted to understand pain points of the initial product and figure out how we could make the government contracting process less daunting. Conducting user interviews and usability testing, we found that:

1. From the contracting opportunities curated for them, clients had a hard time deciphering which contract would fit their companies needs.

The government contracting process is complicated. With dense paperwork and many terms being used, we needed to simplify contract details and demonstrate which contracts best align with their company.

User Research

Conducting user interviews and usability testing with existing clients, we found:

01
Difficulty selecting contracts

From the contract opportunities curated within the portal, clients had a hard time deciphering which contract they should invest their time into applying for.

02
Language Complication

The government contracting process is complicated. With dense paperwork and many terms being used, we needed to simplify contract details and demonstrate which contracts best align with the client.

Ideation

CFit Score

Through our ideation process, we came up with the CFit score.

As the name suggests, the CFit score allows a company to see what government contract opportunities fit best with their background.

The CFit score pulls data from both the client's company and the contract details. It then displays a match rate of how well the contract would fit and assist the client's company.

User Flow

To draw clarity to the user's thought process, we created low-fidelity mockups and a user flow for the client's journey of going through the portal, including the log-in process.

Final Prototype

Registration

Client registers for an account.

License Activation

User enters their unique membership code to activate their Contract Cloud license.

License Activation Success

After entering their license membership code, the user will see a success screen.

Learnings

Voice your ideas.

With this role being my first internship, I learned that it is essential to not be afraid voice your ideas. It can be intimidating at first, however, I've learned that no idea is a bad idea. If a team doesn't share what they think, progress won't be made. Especially working with a startup, ideation is essential.

Work environment.

Working in a team of all women who were founders of this startup, it was an empowering and supportive environment. I learned that surrounding myself with a positive work culture is something that is important to me in the future.

Contract Cloud