ElevateIP's client-facing portal was originally built without UX or UI design input, resulting in a barebones and confusing user experience. Clients described the portal - particularly the intake form - as 'confusing', 'difficult' and 'cumbersome'.

Critical usability issues compounded frustration:

• Hidden Edit button required to unlock form fields
• Misplaced Submit button often unseen by users
• No inline validation or contextual guidance
• Poor wayfinding
• Incorrect form fields types
• Inconsistent error states

Applicants frequently emailed or called in frustration, while admins across three delivery teams were overhwlemed by help requests and manual fixes. As one admin put it:

‍"We shouldn't need an FAQ to explain how to edit or submit the intake form."

I led a comprehensive usability audit and UX research process that included 12 stakeholder interviews, 6 usability tests, competitive benchmarking & full design review.

The user? Busy startup founders with limited time, high cognitive load and little patience for friction.

Research revealed a clear truth: the portal as a whole was lacking key usability elements. Users were not failing to use the portal- the portal was failing them.

Redesigning both the UX and UI of the ElevateIP intake form created a faster, clearer application experience without removing any of the required data inputs.

Key improvements included:

• Welcoming introduction screen to set expectations and reduce friction
• Fully re-architected user flow and screen layouts for clarity and momentum
• Chunking the long form into digestible, motivational sections
• Non-linear stepper wiht prograssive validation, allowing users to jump freely between sectiosn without losing progress
• Refined visual hierarchy, purposeful color use and improved branding alignement
• Contextual help through inline tooltips and field-level guidance
• Smart defaults to pre-fill known data and reduce manual entry
• Inline validation for instant feedback and error prevention

Within 2 months of launch, the ecosystem showed measurable improvements across usability and efficiency metrics. Founders completed applications faster, with fewer errors and less frustration, while admins saw a dramatic drop in support requests

• 26 minutes saved per form, on average
• 36% fewer support tickets related to portal issues
• Noticeably improved user trust

During validation interviews,, clients described the new portal as 'simple', 'straightforward' and 'a relief'. One partiipant summarized the sentiment perfectly:

‍"I wish this had been the portal I could have signed up with when I went through this."

This project showed me how seemingly small UX refinements can create outsized impact at scale. Applying fundamental best practices - like clear hierarchy, visible controls and contextual validation - improved usability more than I would have imagined.

Moving forward, I plan to include System Usability Scale (SUS) scores and deeper metric analysis to quantify usability improvements and strengthen the business case for UX-driven design decisions.