Case study · 03

DocVault AI

An AI-powered SharePoint Document Management System designed from scratch, end to end, from marketing landing page to full application UI.

Real ProductSharePoint DesignsSolo Designer

1-3

Months to deliver

Products designed

User segments

Core pillars

DocVault AI dashboard, blue hero treatment

DocVault AI dashboard, dark hero treatment

Project Overview

DocVault AI is a SharePoint-native document management system built by SharePoint Designs to solve enterprise document chaos. I was the sole designer responsible for the entire product - from the marketing landing page and all its sections to the full application UI inside SharePoint. Designed everything from scratch over 1-3 months.

Role

Solo UI/UX Designer (End to End)

Timeline

1-3 Months · Full Product

Product Type

SaaS Web App + Landing Page

Tools

Figma · Webflow · SharePoint

Problem Statement

Enterprise teams using Microsoft SharePoint struggle with document chaos - files scattered across folders, no version control, compliance nightmares, and hours wasted searching for the right document.

Document Discovery is Broken

Employees spend 2+ hours per week searching for documents. SharePoint's native search is powerful but not intuitive for everyday users.

Compliance is a Constant Risk

Without version control, audit trails, and permission management, every document is a potential compliance violation waiting to happen.

No Unified System

Teams use SharePoint, email attachments, and personal drives. No single source of truth - leading to duplicate files and outdated versions.

Existing Tools Don't Fit

Google Drive and Dropbox lack enterprise compliance. M-Files is expensive and lives outside Microsoft 365. Companies need something native and affordable.

Target Users

DocVault was designed for four distinct user types within an enterprise organisation. Each has different needs, pain points, and success metrics.

Business Users

Day-to-day employees

Day-to-day employees who need to find and use documents quickly without any technical knowledge.

Goal

Find and use documents quickly without technical knowledge.

Pain Point

Hours wasted searching, no clear folder structure, always on the wrong version.

Compliance Managers

Regulatory & Legal Teams

Responsible for ensuring the organisation meets regulatory requirements across every document action.

Goal

Full audit trail, version control, permission management at a glance.

Pain Point

No visibility into who accessed what, manual compliance reporting, constant risk exposure.

IT Managers

System Deployment & Maintenance

Responsible for deploying and maintaining enterprise tools within the existing Microsoft ecosystem.

Goal

Easy deployment within Microsoft 365, no extra infrastructure.

Pain Point

Complex enterprise tools require separate systems outside Microsoft ecosystem.

Employees

General Staff · All Departments

General staff across all departments who interact with shared documents daily but aren't power users.

Goal

Access team documents quickly without understanding the folder structure deeply.

Pain Point

Can never find the right version, don't know who to ask, end up emailing colleagues for files that should be in SharePoint.

Competitive Analysis

Before designing DocVault, I mapped what existing tools offered and where they failed enterprise SharePoint users.

Feature	Google Drive	Dropbox
SharePoint native
AI-powered search	~
Full audit trail	~	~
Version control
Permission management	~	~
Compliance reporting
Microsoft 365 native
Affordable pricing
No extra infrastructure

Key Design Challenges

Designing DocVault presented 3 unique challenges that shaped every decision.

Making Compliance Feel Simple

Compliance features are complex - audit trails, permissions, version history. The challenge was presenting this in a UI that feels clean, not overwhelming. Solution: progressive disclosure - simple view first, advanced controls only when needed.

Designing for 4 Different Users

Business users, compliance managers, IT managers, and everyday employees all have completely different mental models and daily workflows. One UI had to serve all four without confusing any of them. Solution: role-based dashboard views and contextual navigation that surfaces the right tools and information for each user type. Employees see documents relevant to their team, managers see compliance alerts, IT sees system health.

Landing Page That Converts

The landing page needed to explain a complex enterprise product clearly enough to drive sign-ups. Enterprise buyers are skeptical. Solution: lead with the pain point, follow with social proof, end with simple pricing. No jargon above the fold.

Six Pillars - One Coherent System

DocVault is built around 6 core pillars. Each pillar maps to a specific user pain point.

Document Repository

Centralised storage with intelligent folder structure, drag-and-drop upload, and bulk operations.

Version Control

Every document change tracked automatically. One-click rollback to any previous version.

Permission Management

Role-based access control. Set permissions at folder or document level with full audit logging.

Workflow Automation

Automated approval flows, document routing, and notification triggers without any code.

Compliance Tracking

Real-time audit trail. Every view, edit, download, and share logged with timestamp and user identity.

AI Search & Discovery

Natural language search across all documents. Find anything in seconds, not hours of browsing.

User Flows Designed

I mapped 3 primary user flows before designing any screens. These became the backbone of the entire application architecture.

Document Upload & Organisation

User type: Business User

Login via SharePoint → Navigate to target folder → Drag and drop or bulk upload → Add metadata and tags → Set permission level → AI indexes document → Version 1.0 created

Compliance Audit

User type: Compliance Manager

Access Compliance Dashboard → Select document to audit → View full activity timeline → Filter by user, action, date → Export audit report → Flag suspicious activity → Send report to stakeholders

Document Approval

User type: Business User + Manager

Submit for approval → Manager receives notification → Review with comments → Approve / Reject / Request changes → User notified → Version locked → Audit trail updated

Landing Page Design

The DocVault landing page had one job - convert enterprise decision makers into trial sign-ups. I structured it around a clear persuasion hierarchy.

Lead with the pain point not the product

Hero Section

"Your company's documents, finally under control." - Speaks directly to the frustration before introducing the solution.

Three users, three benefits

Value Proposition Strip

Immediately addressed all three user types so every visitor sees themselves in the product.

Show how documents actually move

Feature Deep Dive

Demonstrated real workflows with annotated UI screenshots rather than generic feature lists. Enterprise buyers need to see the product working.

One system, coherent message

Six Pillars Section

Positioned DocVault as a complete system rather than a collection of features. Each pillar maps to a specific pain point.

Built for compliance anxiety

Audit Ready CTA

A dedicated section addressing compliance directly - the biggest fear of enterprise compliance managers.

Why not just Drive or Dropbox?

Competitive Table

Directly answered the objection every buyer has. Side by side comparison with real data, not marketing claims.

Customer testimonials and trust badges

Social Proof

G2, Capterra, and Gartner badges with real customer quotes. Enterprise buyers buy on trust, not features.

One product, one price

Pricing

Simple monthly and one-time options. Removed pricing anxiety with a clear, no-surprise structure.

Key Design Decisions

These decisions were intentional and grounded in user behaviour and enterprise UX principles.

Microsoft Fluent Design Language

DocVault lives inside SharePoint so it had to feel native. I followed Microsoft Fluent design tokens while layering DocVault's brand identity on top. Users feel at home from day one.

Progressive Disclosure for Compliance

Compliance features are complex. Showing everything at once overwhelms users. Simple view by default, advanced controls one click away.

Role-Based Dashboard Views

Three different users, three different dashboards. Business users see recent documents. Compliance managers see audit alerts. IT managers see system health.

Future Scope

With a growing user base, these next-phase features would deepen DocVault's product value and expand into new market segments.

AI Contract Analysis

Automatically extract key clauses, dates, and parties from contracts. Flag risk areas and expiring agreements.

Multi-Tenant Support

Allow firms to manage documents for multiple client organisations from one DocVault instance.

Mobile App

Native iOS and Android companion for document approvals and notifications. Full offline access to pinned docs.

DocVault Analytics

Document usage analytics - most accessed files, storage trends, user activity patterns, compliance risk scoring.

Reflection

DocVault was my most complex design challenge to date - a real product, real stakeholders, real business goals.

✦

Designing for enterprise is designing for behaviour change

Enterprise users have deeply ingrained habits. DocVault had to feel familiar enough to adopt immediately but powerful enough to replace existing chaos.

✦

The landing page is a product, not a brochure

I treated the landing page as a conversion product with a clear user journey, objection handling, and CTAs at every scroll depth.

✦

Three users means three success metrics

Business users measure time-to-find. Compliance managers measure coverage. IT managers measure deployment time. I should have defined these upfront.

✦

What I'd do differently

I'd run at least 3 user interviews per user type before finalising the IA. Enterprise users have specific workflows that are hard to guess from the outside.

Let's talk

Hiring for something complex? Tell me what your team is trying to fix. I read every message.

Mohammed Jamal

Looking for a full-time product or enterprise design role, especially one with the messy, unglamorous problems in it.

let's make something clear together

jamaluiux04@gmail.com

Drop a line ↗ LinkedIn Resume