Where things were breaking‍

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Smart Filing had a solid mission and the right services, but the experience didn’t quite live up to the promise.

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New users, especially non-technical founders — were getting stuck early in the process. Drop-offs were common during entity selection and form-heavy steps. The product assumed too much prior knowledge, leaned heavily on legal language, and didn’t always guide users when they needed reassurance the most.

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In short: the platform worked, but it didn’t "feel" friendly or confidence-boosting.

Understanding the real problem

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Before touching UI, I focused on understanding where things were breaking.

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Here’s what informed the design direction:

• Conversations and feedback from founders trying to register businesses
• Reviewing drop‑off points across the registration flow
• Studying competitors like LegalZoom, Incfile, and ZenBusiness
• Internal stakeholder insights on operational bottlenecks

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A clear pattern showed up: users didn’t mind complexity — they just didn’t want surprises. They wanted to know what was coming, why it mattered, and whether they were doing things correctly.

Defining the Experience

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The design direction focused on three core principles:

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• ‍Clarity over cleverness — Every screen should answer what it is, why it matters, and what to do next.
• ‍Progress builds confidence — Users should always feel like they’re moving forward.
• ‍Support without hand-holding — Helpful explanations without overwhelming users.

Reflections & what I’d Improve

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Balancing legal accuracy with usability was the hardest part. You can’t oversimplify business registration, but you can explain it better. Scope evolution added pressure, but flexibility in the design system kept the product from feeling bloated.

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The redesigned Smart Filing experience turns a traditionally stressful process into something founders can complete with confidence. Good product design isn’t about removing complexity — it’s about absorbing it on behalf of the user.

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With more time, I’d explore deeper onboarding, smarter guidance based on behavior, expanded mobile optimization, and more automation for repeat tasks.