SpringBoard

Modern interface patterns for document interaction

SpringCM has been building advanced document functionality for nearly a decade. This left us with a potpourri of preview pages, complex information displays and document actions that had to be supported whenever a user viewed a document. Redesigning these preview pages meant creating a system that could facilitate our customers’ diverse use cases and provide consistency throughout the product.

Our Solution

RESEARCH

We powered our work with a strong understanding of document preview use cases. Usage data pointed us toward the product functionality most commonly used while previewing documents. User interviews fleshed out the stories behind these requirements in human terms. We quickly discovered that an average user was exposed to an inconsistent preview experiences, which often left them unaware of key document information and unable to complete tasks assigned to them.

Our research inspired a project goal to “provide a unified document experience that surfaces critical information, reduces noise and supports learnable (rather than trainable) task completion.”

DESIGN

We took a molecular approach to designing our new system. We began by printing a copy of every instance where a document was previewed in our product, using examples from user interviews to ensure we covered important use cases. We got out scissors and broke each page down into its elements, like document attributes, tasks and navigation. We piled these little pieces on a conference room table and began grouping them into similar elements. Then we experimented with arranging elements into different layouts for a range of screen sizes. Our new solution, called SpringBoard, progressively displayed advanced functionality in digestible, responsive views for screens of all sizes.