Document automation: always focus on the end user experience

Key to successful document automation is building products which end users will enjoy and benefit from: something which leaves them thinking “That was so intuitive, I can trust that product, it really helped me, it’s almost like it was reading my mind”.

How can you best get to that endpoint?

✅ Understand how the drafting in the relevant precedent flows and build your automation around that structure

✅Work with the team to scope automation that works for them and always ask “Will this work for the team?”

✅Structure the automated questionnaire so that it aligns where appropriate with how the document is structured and how a user would think if drafting manually

✅Include practical and legal guidance notes to cover off any uncertainty on how to answer and complete the questionnaire

✅Focus initially on the big time savings your automation can generate – a long, unwieldy and unclear questionnaire will discourage adoption

✅Guide the team on what will work best from an automation perspective and be alive to the risks of over-automation – this is where experience is essential.