Workspace + OroAI
Live Project
Designed an autonomous, AI-assisted work environment for product teams
Designed an autonomous, AI-assisted work environment for product teams
Designed an autonomous, AI-assisted work environment for product teams
OroAI acquires Workspace ⟶
OroAI acquires Workspace ⟶
OroAI acquires Workspace ⟶
Note: Major parts of this project are under NDA so some process details are left out, but I’ve included clickable links to key research bits—feel free to dive in!
Under construction —stay tuned for updates!
Info
Team
UXDesignlabs + OroAI team
Team
UXDesignlabs + OroAI team
Type
Client project
Type
Client project
Role
Lead Product Designer
Role
Lead Product Designer
Timeline
4 months + 2 months (for merger)
Timeline
4 months + 2 months (for merger)
Focus Area
Product Design UX Research Product Strategy
Focus Area
Product Design UX Research Product Strategy
TL;DR + HIghlights
Designed and developed The Workspace, an autonomous, AI-assisted digital work environment.
Led the onboarding of multiple SMEs and SMBs for the platform’s testing and feedback phase.
Simultaneously contributed to a client project for OroAI, which ultimately led to The Workspace's acquisition and integration into OroAI’s offerings.
THE CONTEXT
One year ago, we set out to rethink Task and Project management for the new working environment. New products have emerged to disrupt different dimensions of work , but workflow management for product teams remain fragmented.
THE CONTEXT
One year ago, we set out to rethink Task and Project management for the new working environment. New products have emerged to disrupt different dimensions of work , but workflow management for product teams remain fragmented.
my role in this project
With a one-line design brief as the starting point, I was responsible for gathering market insights, defining the MVP, and establishing a feature roadmap. I also led the UX/UI design, QA/QC testing, and ultimately led the platform’s integration with OroAI.
What is the workspace?
The Workspace revolutionizes team collaboration, merging communication and productivity seamlessly. Whether you're part of a large enterprise or a small business, streamline your workflow by consolidating conversations, tools, and information in one central hub. Prioritize tasks, communicate effortlessly, and collaborate on documents—all within The Workspace.
What is the workspace?
The Workspace revolutionizes team collaboration, merging communication and productivity seamlessly. Whether you're part of a large enterprise or a small business, streamline your workflow by consolidating conversations, tools, and information in one central hub. Prioritize tasks, communicate effortlessly, and collaborate on documents—all within The Workspace.
THE GROUNDWORK
Our Process +
What We Learned
UNDERstanding the market
To start off, I carried out an extensive market study of the various product management tools to understand what are the base standards and what are some interesting features we could build on.
Check out the market research ⟶
Enterprise and SMB product teams often use a variety of tools to coordinate across functions. However, while companies invest in tools aimed at product managers, these rarely meet the needs of most employees.
Initially, we developed Workspace specifically for UXDesignlabs’ internal team, with no intention of commercializing it.
We focused on essential features that would streamline our workflow without the need for multiple platforms, and set out to build an MVP tailored to our unique needs.
The MVP features were designed with a focus on rapid deployment, keeping them minimal and streamlined—just the essential elements needed to deliver the platform’s core functionality.
PART I
some of the use cases we defined
Its a struggle to prioritize and meet deadlines for hundreds of client projects and tasks at the same time :
Automatically prioritize tasks for each team member: Eliminate the need to manually manage multiple projects and determine who should do what and when.
Ensure assignments stay on track: Auto-assign tasks directly to teammates' calendars, eliminating guesswork.
What happens when things don’t go as planned? They rarely do—Tac will automatically re-prioritize tasks when emergencies arise or when tasks take longer than anticipated.
Gain a complete view of parallel projects: Workflow automations and dependencies ensure you focus only on the issues that truly matter.
The Foundation
Feature + Content structuring
THE SUMMARY
Drawing from market research, identified use cases, and our insights into successfully guiding a project from inception to handover within a product team, we defined the essential features for Workspace. These features were later refined and expanded with each new release. Some of the base features include:
Project Management
Tac : Productivity co-pilot
Deadline Reminders
Meeting Bookings
Predicted Workload
Integrations
Drive + Notes
Time Tracking
The development journey of each feature was extensive and can't be fully captured here. However, feel free to check out the documentation links for each feature for a more in-depth feature journey.
PHASE I
The MVP
THE SUMMARY
Getting started is half the battle, so we focused on building the essentials as our primary objective. We created a streamlined platform that included all necessary features in their most functional form, without any extra embellishments that typically enhance a product.
This strategy proved effective, allowing us to observe how teams utilized the features, which helped us establish a solid foundation of user experience insights. This, in turn, enabled us to concentrate on the aesthetics of the user interface in subsequent releases.
Business Context
The product arc of the Workspace was an interesting one since Workspace started as a passion project, but when it exceeded our expectations, we offered it to early-stage SMEs for testing at a nominal price. This helped us refine our Ideal Customer Profile and strengthen our UVP.
Business Context
The product arc of the Workspace was an interesting one since Workspace started as a passion project, but when it exceeded our expectations, we offered it to early-stage SMEs for testing at a nominal price. This helped us refine our Ideal Customer Profile and strengthen our UVP.
UNderstanding the audience
Identifying our ICP
THE SUMMARY
To market the platform effectively, we chose to narrow our customer profile to resemble our internal team, as the platform fully met our product management and delivery needs.
Our ideal customer profile became small, remote design teams focused on rapid product delivery. T hese teams typically include a full stack of roles—designers, copywriters, product managers, developers, and QA testers.
We targeted teams whose segmented workflows across multiple platforms were hindering their efficiency and slowing down their delivery timelines due to platform dependencies.
Indepth ICP analysis ⟶
PHASE II
From MVP to
Market-Ready
THE SUMMARY
Our internal testing gave us a better sense of what features resonated, which fell flat, and where we could step things up. At this point, we shifted gears to focus on the the platform’s look and feel—really dialing into the micro-interactions and creating a visual design system that felt more engaging and cohesive.
If you're curious about how we improved and released each feature, the changelog has all the details. We've documented the key updates to keep our users in the loop as they navigate the changes.
Stage II
Who and What is OroAI?
THE SUMMARY
OroAI, a USA-based client, approached us to build a platform leveraging advanced machine learning to transform job searching and hiring. They needed us to design and develop the platform around their established business goals, with key features defined by their market research team to ensure a strong product-market fit.
The platform’s goal was to empower recruiters, staffing agencies, and job seekers alike, facilitating efficient job and candidate matching and revolutionizing the hiring process.
Note: The OroAI landing page was designed by the OroAI team, not by us.
my role in this project
With the OroAI team already having defined their Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and requirements, my role was to transform these into a market-ready design. I developed the user flow, crafted the user experience and interface, and managed the development hand-off for this part of the project.
Additionally, I mapped out the journeys of different user groups on the platform and devised a feature-pricing strategy tailored to their needs.
Business Context
OroAI aimed to combine both B2B and D2C models, creating a unique platform that required distinct user flows, feature structures, and pricing strategies for each segment. The platform's offerings were tailored separately for individual job seekers and for staffing companies and organizations.
Business Context
OroAI aimed to combine both B2B and D2C models, creating a unique platform that required distinct user flows, feature structures, and pricing strategies for each segment. The platform's offerings were tailored separately for individual job seekers and for staffing companies and organizations.
The ACQUIsition + Merger
What led to the merger of Workspace with OroAI?
THE SUMMARY
During Workspace’s beta-testing, we onboarded several SMEs, including OroAI, who found the platform effective for their needs. This led to OroAI acquiring Workspace, with plans to merge and adapt its features to fit OroAI's offerings. Our AI assistant, TAC, was also upgraded with job search and matching capabilities.
Each feature evolved significantly through this process. For detailed insights, you can check out the documentation links provided
Note: Due to NDA restrictions, much of the OroAI project is confidential, so the documentation is presented in an abridged format.
Hush... it's a secret!
This project, along with its client extension, is currently under NDA, which limits the details I can share publicly. However, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re interested in learning more!
Hush... it's a secret!
This project, along with its client extension, is currently under NDA, which limits the details I can share publicly. However, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re interested in learning more!
Milestones
First Acquisition
Workspace by OroAI
It was rewarding to know that a passion project could have immense market value.
100K USD
ARR by Q3 2024
OroAI was able to generate revenue by Q1 of the release and are now enroute to a valuation of 2 million USD.
Milestones
Onboarding 150 users
Onto the Workspace
Heavily grateful for all the early-phase users who adopted Workspace and gave us valuable feedback.
100K USD
ARR by Q3 2024
OroAI was able to generate revenue by Q1 of the release and are now enroute to a valuation of 2 million USD.
Signing off : retrospective
If there is something that this project taught me it is test fast, fail fast and adjust fast. An idea is only as good as its execution, which means that the fastest way to getting a good product is by building rapidly. I also learned that it is fine to build solutions that already exist, as long as you are able to identify the correct product-market fit. A big thanks to Abhiram Deshpande for giving me full control over this project and trusting my decisions, sometimes even more than I did myself.
Signing off : retrospective
If there is something that this project taught me it is test fast, fail fast and adjust fast. An idea is only as good as its execution, which means that the fastest way to getting a good product is by building rapidly. I also learned that it is fine to build solutions that already exist, as long as you are able to identify the correct product-market fit. A big thanks to Abhiram Deshpande for giving me full control over this project and trusting my decisions, sometimes even more than I did myself.