Making a simple product that can handle the most complex contracts

Project overview

Bondify is an early stage platform for the contracts finance teams work through: reading them closely, negotiating the terms, and keeping track of what was agreed.

Project background

We live in a world where ChatGPT is capable of passing the bar exam, yet finance teams still work through complex contracts in Microsoft Word — hunting for the clause that matters and comparing one version against the next by hand.

Bondify was created to make that work faster. Not only for routine agreements, but for the transactions where the terms are genuinely complicated: M&A deals and corporate lending.

The challenge

How might we make a simple product that can handle the most complex contracts?

Tough spot

Bondify was in a tough spot. Despite its advanced features, the platform didn't stand out due to a crowded and confusing user interface, packed with too many elements that made it difficult to navigate. To address these issues, I began with a comprehensive UX audit, diving deep into the user journey to identify precisely where frustrations and bottlenecks were occurring.

The next steps involved extensive dialogues with internal stakeholders, during which I presented my findings and advocated for changes. Convincing them required more than just stating the problems; it also involved aligning the proposed solutions with Bondify's business goals.

We started with revamping Bondify's Document Editor and the right panel, which houses the platform's main functionalities — the variables that drive a contract, the comments a negotiation runs through, and the version history that says what changed. This makeover wasn't just about looks; it was about making the user's journey smoother and more intuitive. We aimed to ensure that every feature was just a click away and that each tool felt like a natural extension of the user's workflow.

We introduced a new dashboard and data room in Bondify, all designed for simplicity and efficiency. We reimagined the dashboard to give users immediate, clear insights and quicker access to their most-needed features. The data room, crucial for managing complex contracts, got a makeover for better organization and faster document retrieval. These updates were all about making sure users spend less time navigating and more time doing valuable work.

We've updated the Variables & Effects feature by adding a visual canvas to the Variables workspace. Think of variables as the gears in the machinery of a contract — they are the terms that change from one deal to the next, and effects are what those changes pull along with them. The canvas makes the dependencies legible, so it is possible to see at a glance what a single answer rewrites further down the document.

Lessons learned

My work at Bondify brought two crucial insights to light. First, in the pursuit of new features, it's essential not to lose sight of the core functionality our users rely on. Second, I realized how surprisingly easy it is to become detached from the user base, which can lead to decisions that don't align with their actual needs. This experience emphasized the necessity of regularly conducting a reality check to ensure we remain in tune with our end users. It's vital to understand their daily challenges and keep their needs at the forefront of our decisions.