You’re approaching your 5-year anniversary at Ontra! Looking back, what initially drew you to the company, and what’s kept you excited about being part of the team?
I joined when the company was around 40 people, and I was really excited about how everyone at Ontra was so smart and passionate about the opportunities in the market. I could see that there was a huge opportunity to make an impact and grow with the company over time, and that has been proven true! I also got the sense from the very beginning, during the interview process, that the company was a little different from others (in a good way). Ontra’s decisions are guided by real intentionality, not by imitating other companies. I knew that this would bode well in terms of the R&D culture because questioning your assumptions as you’re building a product is really healthy.
As someone who’s been at Ontra for a significant time, what have been your key priorities in shaping the user experience, and how have they evolved since you first started?
A key priority has been to maintain the trust that our users have in us and the Ontra platform while incorporating newer elements like AI predictions and suggestions. It was a newer experience to interact with AI even just a few years ago (before ChatGPT entered the scene), and we had a lot of conversations about encouraging the right amount of caution when users interacted with AI-provided answers. I’d say that people are generally much more experienced with AI and its potential pitfalls now that they’ve all interacted with ChatGPT and other LLMs, so we’ve also evolved our platform to account for that — and of course, we’re also taking advantage of this amazing new technology.
Another thing that’s changed a lot is how much we’ve grown as an R&D org. We used to be a handful of engineers, a couple of product managers, and one UX designer. Now we’ve multiplied many times over and have more products we work on. It has become increasingly important to maintain consistency between our surface areas so that users can easily switch between products and not have to relearn everything and so that we can continuously develop and improve. Our recent transition to frontend framework, React, is one example of an investment we’ve made as an organization to maintain our velocity.
What does a typical day look like for you as a Senior UX Designer?
Typically, there is a short standup meeting with our embedded team (software/QA engineers, product managers, and me), as well as other touchpoints, such as design reviews with UX, project teams, or other stakeholders like Customer Success or Sales. We might have a call with a user to do discovery or get feedback on some ideas. In between, I’ll create mockups, write research plans, receive or give feedback on ideas, create Jira tickets, and keep an eye on Slack to make sure our team doesn’t have any outstanding questions and can keep development moving forward. There’s definitely a healthy amount of collaboration going on at all times across multiple planes.
As someone who collaborates across multiple teams, what strategies do you use to ensure that your designs meet both user needs and business objectives?
Ideally, the business objectives are framed in a way that gives your team the freedom to find the right solution that fits your users’ needs. At Ontra, we contribute to the formulation of our org’s OKRs, so we’d start by making sure that we’re not prescribing a solution before we know enough about the problem.
We also place great emphasis on continuous discovery — talking to the users, looking at any past research that’s been done, creating co-development programs, etc. I often work with the PM to set up calls and pull together discovery information so that the whole team can easily come to a shared understanding of the problems we’re solving. I think this really helps everyone find the overlap between what our users need, what our goals are, and what can actually be achieved in the timeframe we have.
What’s been the most important skill you’ve developed during your time at Ontra that’s helped you grow as a UX Designer?
I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with talking to people and digging into their problems. Whether they’re part of the Ontra Legal Network, customers, or prospects, it’s important to try to get information that’s as true as possible. I think part of how you do that is establishing a rapport quickly, making it clear that you’re open to negative feedback, and asking for more detail when appropriate. Feedback is a real gift, and I love when folks feel they can be very open with you.
As a woman in tech and UX, particularly in the legal tech industry, what advice would you give to other women pursuing careers in this field?
I’d say don’t be intimidated by industries new to you. I don’t come from a finance or legal background, but everyone at Ontra has always been very willing to share their knowledge, and as long as you’re ready to soak it all up, it can work out very well. Besides, I think part of what makes UX fun is how much you get to learn about people’s lives and indulge your curious side.
It can be tough when you’re the only UX designer and the only woman on your development team (though this hasn’t really been my experience at Ontra). It’s sort of a double whammy of feeling alone. But building strong relationships with your team, especially with your PM and your lead engineer, can go a long way! You really never know who might be your best ally and collaborator and who might be willing to put in a little extra effort to add UX polish.
What’s your go-to productivity hack or habit that helps you stay focused during a busy workday?
I have a physical notebook where I jot down bullet points of the things I want to get done. I cross them off as I go or note when they can be postponed until later. Otherwise, I find it’s too easy to get lost in the many Zoom calls, Notion pages, Slack messages, Jira tickets, etc. Also, caffeine and fresh air; taking a walk to grab a latte every once in a while is very helpful.
Before we wrap up, can you share a couple of fun facts with us?
The first app I ever contributed to was in college, though I don’t think I’d even heard of the term “UX” at the time. I’d always had an interest in Photoshop and art in general, so even though I didn’t know anything about app development, some friends asked me to create some graphics for an unofficial app to accompany our college’s music festival. I’m sure I’d cringe looking at it now.
Some years later, I got my first full-time UX job, where, funnily enough, they were still using Photoshop to create mockups. (Luckily, I helped convince everyone to switch to Sketch eventually. Now we’re all aboard the Figma train.)
This year, I started taking pottery classes, which have been super fun and a great meditative hobby that doesn’t involve looking at a screen! I also love baking for similar reasons and am looking forward to all the holiday baking this year.
