Blueprinting a Productivity Platform for Enterprise Teams
Enterprise productivity tool
Senior Product Designer
Discovery, ideation, user research, ORCA mapping, mid-fidelity prototype
Corporate teams managing initiatives with unclear structure
Alwasaet
3 months
Context
Overview
X-Case was born out of a simple question: Why can’t corporate teams have a task management tool that feels modern without losing the governance they rely on?
The system blends both worlds: the structure corporates need (permissions, audit trails, hierarchy) and the flexibility teams want (customizable widgets and an intuitive interface).
My contribution
I joined early in the product’s definition stage, helping make sense of ambiguous requirements. I led user research, mapped out journeys, and shaped the system’s foundation using the ORCA methodology to define entities, relationships, and constraints. I worked closely with product and engineering to translate conceptual workflows into something real and cohesive.
Discovery & Research
Defining the problem
Research goals and prioritization
Our ambitions for this system were big, and the research plan quickly became overwhelming given the range of features and ideas our product team envisioned. Our first step was to articulate the central research goals, establishing a clear set of objectives for the upcoming research cycle.
Research goals map
To further prioritize and narrow the research scope to a manageable level, we needed to identify where our largest knowledge gaps lay. So we started by mapping all system components onto a matrix that shows how important each component is and how much ambiguity surrounds it. We also ran a MoSCoW analysis on all proposed features, clearly defining Must haves vs Should and Could haves. This gave us a clearer picture of which areas needed deeper research based on their importance and how much we don't know.
MoScoW scores table
Visualizing system components by importance and ambiguity
Identifying assumptions
As we know we can't validate everything at once, we wrote down all the assumptions we were carrying about user behaviors, workflows, and expectations. Putting these on paper helped us stay aware of what we were treating as “known,” even when it wasn’t yet validated.
Documenting assumptions to clarify what needed validation
Brainstorming questions
Using the prioritization matrix, we focused on brainstorming questions tied to areas where uncertainty was high and the component was central to the product. This guided interview and workshop planning so we spent time on the gaps that mattered most.
Consolidated list of research questions organized by area
Research results
The research gave us a clearer understanding of user roles, workflows, governance processes, and expectations for flexibility and control. Part of our research output included four personas representing the key user groups who would interact with the system. These personas later guided decisions around hierarchy, permissions, and case structure.
Key user groups of the system, represented as four personas with distinct goals and workflows
UX Strategy
System modeling with ORCA
Using the ORCA method from Object-Oriented UX, created by Sophia Prater, we broke the system into its core elements: Objects, Relationships, Calls-to-Actions, and Attributes. This gave us a clear structure to design from and later became the backbone of the product.
It helped us answer foundational questions like:
What are the main system's 'objects'?
How do they relate to each other?
What can users do at each level?
What attributes does each object have?
Object Relationship Matrix: Mapping how each object in the system connects to others to clarify relationships and dependencies
CTA Matrix: Defining the actions available for each object to guide interactions and workflows
Attributes: Listing key properties of each object to ensure consistent representation across the system
ORCA cards
The final step was to consolidate all object definitions and artifacts into ORCA cards. These cards detailed each object, its attributes, actions, and relationships, serving as a reference for UX as well as the data and backend teams.
Object cards
With these definitions in place, the structure of the system was already agreed upon, so we didn’t need to resolve basic questions during design. The ORCA artifacts kept everyone aligned and made it easier to build the system in a modular, scalable way.
Prototype Design
Wireframing
Homepage low-fidelity wireframe
Homepage mid-fidelity wireframe
Case detail (mid-fidelity)
Case tracker (mid-fidelity)
Mapping case tasks modal and interactions (mid-fidelity)
Final UI
The UI design team carried the UX structure forward, building directly on the mid-fidelity prototype. The final screens follow the same object models, widget layouts, and permissions-driven interactions, making the product ready for development with a clear and consistent structure.
X-Case homepage
List of cases
Case detail
Case task tracker
Case participant management
Impact
Outcome
Unified Data
All building and occupancy data in one place
Live Insights
Up-to-date occupancy and space utilization
Better Decisions
Informed planning for renovations and allocations
Less Manual Work
No more chasing spreadsheets or reconciling reports
Scalable Platform
Future-proof for new buildings and analytics
Reflection
This project reminded me that complex systems don’t start with screens, they start with clarity. ORCA helped turn ambiguity into structure, and structure into an experience that actually made sense to users.
It also reinforced how much value comes from understanding the nature of the work, not just the tasks. The more we designed around real workflows and constraints, the more cohesive the product became.
