CiteRight, a Canada-based legal research and writing technology company, has seen success in the Canadian market and were looking to move into the US market. They partnered with Theory and Principle in 2023 to determine whether there were any differences in how US attorneys approach research to determine whether their product would be successful in the US market.
Our remit: Talk to US-based attorneys to better understand the process, tools and pain-points related to collecting, organizing, sharing, and assimilating legal research in the service of writing legal briefs (especially in complex litigation cases), and ultimately explore and validate core assumptions about user behavior and CiteRight value propositions.
The CiteRight research project collected data from 12 in-depth, qualitative interviews with US-based attorneys, and resulted in a 45 page report, complete with insights about the tools and processes US attorneys currently employ, detailed product feedback, interview sound bites, and suggestions for future product development. Progress was shared with the CiteRight team during the interview process to involve them as the work evolved, with a final presentation of all research takeaways and recommendations at project conclusion.
“T&P was able to get insights that we had no idea about. In addition to the research, the final report added in some suggested directions where we could go next. It wasn’t just a read out, it was actionable. We had completely overlooked some potential revenue sources.”
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The final project report indicated that the CiteRight product, as designed to date, did not match the current market needs. Rather than this being a dead end for product development, it has allowed CiteRight to grow in a new direction.
“This research project exceeded our expectations,” summed up Katie Robblee, CiteRight Program Manager. “T&P was able to get insights that we had no idea about. In addition to the research, the final report added in some suggested directions where we could go next. It wasn’t just a read out, it was actionable. We had completely overlooked some potential revenue sources.”
“Since working with T&P we have hired two product people and one UX designer. A product-led approach is now more a part of the DNA of the company.” Robblee added.
When it comes to the value of outsourced user research, CiteRight CEO Aaron Wenner is a convert.
“Everything T&P did was valuable, but one of the most valuable things was handling the outreach. In the past when we tried to do interviews, it would start in a good place, but it was too easy to get distracted and not have the bandwidth to follow through. This project was the ideal use case for outsourcing to a contractor. It’s definitely something I would consider doing again.”
What’s next for CiteRight?
“We’ve actually been able to use these insights in some product planning sessions and I would say it is now foundational to the next phase of our work.” commented Rex Shoyama, Senior Product Manager. “Thanks to these insights, we can now see the underlying user problems and can present better solutions.”
