How 22 stakeholder interviews shaped Com Laude’s software upgrade plan
Com Laude wanted to upgrade its domain management software with a modern, multi-device customer experience, but its teams worked to different processes and priorities. Box UK ran an agile discovery that brought those views together into a product vision, a defined first release and an interactive prototype.
In short
Com Laude provides domain name and registry management services to brand owners. It needed a plan to upgrade its existing software that would give customers a modern, intuitive experience on any device, and bring together the different processes and priorities of the teams behind it.
- 22 stakeholder interviews, plus customer surveys, analytics, user observation and competitor analysis
- A product vision, user story maps and personas built from that research
- A Minimum Marketable Product defined, including new reporting, client support and multilingual features
- A UX strategy, information architecture and interactive prototype to test the design before development
- A clear plan for short- and long-term development, and a more user-centred way of working
Customer background
Com Laude provides strategic domain name services to brand owners, including domain name and registry management. Its customers use its software to manage the domains their brands depend on, so the experience of using that software matters.
By the time Com Laude came to Box UK, it wanted to upgrade that software.
The challenge
Com Laude needed a plan to upgrade its existing software systems, with a contemporary design and an intuitive customer experience that worked across devices.
The upgrade also had to align and integrate processes, services and ways of thinking that differed from team to team. Each part of the business relied on the current systems in its own way, and each had its own view of what a future system should do.
Agreeing what to build, with evidence behind it, had to come before building anything.
Our approach
Box UK’s consultants designed a tailored programme of discovery activities to build a shared understanding of the project’s scope:
- 22 stakeholder interviews
- customer surveys and site analytics
- product walkthroughs and user observation
- analysis of peers, innovators and competitors
- a SWOT assessment and an evaluation of the technical landscape
Every area of the business could explain how the current systems helped or hindered its day-to-day work, and what it needed from a future system. Involving people from across Com Laude this early built buy-in for the result, and meant all priority requirements could be addressed.
The research also kept the focus on Com Laude’s customers and their real needs and behaviour. UX analysis of good user-centred design, from Com Laude’s competitors and across the wider digital landscape, showed what that could look like in practice.
With that evidence gathered, the team could start defining the future product.
What we built
Working closely with Com Laude, Box UK’s consultants turned the research into a set of outputs describing both where things stood and where the software needed to go.
The first was a product vision that could be referred to throughout the project. It set out who the software would serve, the key tasks it had to support, the outcomes Com Laude and its customers wanted, and the product’s expected lifespan.
Large-scale agile user story maps detailed the journeys within and across the system, and from those journeys Box UK and Com Laude identified the features the software would need. Detailed personas for Com Laude’s customers and middle users captured their requirements, including accessibility needs, technical knowledge and design preferences, so later decisions could be checked against them.
To get the upgraded product to market as quickly as possible, Box UK defined a Minimum Marketable Product (MMP). Drawing on the story maps, it combined core functionality from the existing systems with new features, including reporting, client support and multilingual support, and tactical UX improvements.
Box UK also researched whether existing software, from Com Laude’s own portfolio or the wider market, could meet its needs. That research informed a recommended development roadmap designed to shorten time to market while leaving room to scale and diversify.
Finally, a UX strategy and information architecture for the proposed solution came to life in an interactive prototype. It showed how the system might look, feel and behave across key pages and interactions, and helped validate design and technical decisions before development began.
Delivery
The discovery was carried out by four Box UK consultants, working closely with Com Laude’s team throughout, using an agile, user-centred approach.
The outcome
Com Laude came out of discovery with a clear picture of the short- and long-term development needed to create software that serves both its customers and its internal users. With a product vision, a defined first release, a roadmap and a prototype, it could make informed decisions about future development and plan for the risks ahead.
The discovery also left Com Laude with the skills and tools to work in a more user-centred way, so future products and services can respond to customer needs, UX opportunities and market trends.
Frequently asked questions
A shared, evidence-based view of what to build and why. For Com Laude that meant a product vision, story maps, personas, a Minimum Marketable Product definition, a roadmap and an interactive prototype.
Enough to cover every team whose work the system touches. Com Laude’s discovery included 22 stakeholder interviews, so every area of the business had a say.
The smallest version of a product that delivers enough value for customers to use and pay for it. It’s a way of getting a new platform to market sooner, then building on it.
Check before you commit. For Com Laude, Box UK researched existing software in its own portfolio and the wider market before recommending a development roadmap.
To show how the system will look, feel and behave, and to validate design and technical decisions while they’re still easy to change. Com Laude’s prototype covered key pages and interactions.
What this means for your organisation
If you’re about to replace a system that different teams use in different ways, the hardest part is rarely the build. It’s agreeing what to build. Discovery done properly gives you that agreement, with evidence behind it, before you spend on development.
That’s common in B2B software, professional services and member organisations. If you’re facing a platform upgrade, send us a few lines about the system and the teams who rely on it. We’ll tell you what a discovery would need to answer.
Talk to one of our digital experts
Tom Houdmont
Head of Business Solutions
Do you have a great idea for a project you need support with?
Tom leads Box UK’s Business Solutions team and has over 15 years experience in the web industry. Tom is passionate about creating impactful solutions that solve real problems and deliver the outcomes our clients need.
Or call us on 020 7439 1900
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