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Lexark: Legal Resource Search Engine, User Web App & Admin Dashboard

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Project Role:

Pr. Product Designer

Industry:

Lawtech/SaaS

Duration:

12 Weeks

Year:

Feb 2025

Deliverables:

User & Admin Dashboard

“We helped Lexark build the most user-friendly law library on the planet”

“We helped Lexark build the most user-friendly law library on the planet”

“We helped Lexark build the most user-friendly law library on the planet”

Project Role:

Product Designer

Pr. Product Designer

Industry:

Lawtech

Duration:

12 Weeks

Year:

Feb 2005

Feb 2025

Deliverables:

User & Admin Dashboard

The Product

The Challenge

The Goal

The Solution

The Results

Key Takeaways

The Product 🏆

Lexark is an innovative legal resource search engine and user-friendly web application designed specifically to empower legal professionals by streamlining access to critical information.

In an era where the legal landscape is increasingly complex and data-driven, Lexark serves as a comprehensive digital platform that aggregates, organizes, and delivers high-quality, documented legal resources at the speed of modern demands.

Whether you're a seasoned attorney, a paralegal, a law student, or a corporate counsel, Lexark bridges the gap between vast legal databases and everyday legal needs, ensuring that users can focus more on strategy and advocacy rather than sifting through endless volumes of information.
Key user-facing features include:

Lexark is an innovative legal resource search engine and user-friendly web application designed specifically to empower legal professionals by streamlining access to critical information.

In an era where the legal landscape is increasingly complex and data-driven, Lexark serves as a comprehensive digital platform that aggregates, organizes, and delivers high-quality, documented legal resources at the speed of modern demands.

Whether you're a seasoned attorney, a paralegal, a law student, or a corporate counsel, Lexark bridges the gap between vast legal databases and everyday legal needs, ensuring that users can focus more on strategy and advocacy rather than sifting through endless volumes of information.
Key user-facing features include:

Lexark is an innovative legal resource search engine and user-friendly web application designed specifically to empower legal professionals by streamlining access to critical information.

In an era where the legal landscape is increasingly complex and data-driven, Lexark serves as a comprehensive digital platform that aggregates, organizes, and delivers high-quality, documented legal resources at the speed of modern demands.

Whether you're a seasoned attorney, a paralegal, a law student, or a corporate counsel, Lexark bridges the gap between vast legal databases and everyday legal needs, ensuring that users can focus more on strategy and advocacy rather than sifting through endless volumes of information.
Key user-facing features include:

Dashboard,

Overview of saved documents, recent searches, and quick access to previously opened files.

Browse,

Smart auto-complete search with category browsing; features a streamlined PDF text viewer (simplified from a more interactive design to conserve engineering resources).

Navigation Bar,

There are two key elements on the navigation menu, which remains pinned to the screen. The first is the search bar, allowing users to search for any document The second, the toggle switch; allowing users to switch in between reading mode and view mode.

Library,

Storage for user-uploaded documents and shared files from other users.

Lawyer's Forum(post-MVP),

Community area for posts, discussions, and trending legal topics.

Workspace,

Collaboration space for teams to share notes, organize projects, and gather feedback.

Workspace,

Collaboration space for teams to share notes, organize projects, and gather feedback.

Go Pro,

Subscription upsell for full document access and advanced collaboration.

A standout aspect of Lexark: Users can experience core value immediately—even before signing up or logging in. The Browse page allows guest users to perform smart searches, view search results, and read document previews or full PDFs in the text viewer, giving instant utility and building trust right from the landing page.

(Landing page featuring the smart search and categories)

(First version of Search results, which was later updated after a few months)

(The current User Interface of Search results page)

(User dashboard, upon successful registration and sign in)

The Admin Dashboard enables platform management with two roles (Super Admin for full control; Regular Admin limited to adding documents—deletes require Super Admin approval):

Overview: For the admin to track metrics (users, subscribers, documents, categories), registration graphs, recent uploads.
Legal Database: For the admin to upload documents and create categories.
User Management: This allows the admin to manage the users on the platform- Regular users and Student users.
Subscription Management: (regular/student users, cancellations, trials, revenue).
Analytics & Reports: Growth trends, popular categories, active institutions/users.
Institutions & Students: CRUD for pre-registered entities.
Settings: Admin restriction toggles and notifications.
Support & Help Desk: The chat interface and flow for interacting with users.

The Admin Dashboard enables platform management with two roles (Super Admin for full control; Regular Admin limited to adding documents—deletes require Super Admin approval):

Overview: For the admin to track metrics (users, subscribers, documents, categories), registration graphs, recent uploads.
Legal Database: For the admin to upload documents and create categories.
User Management: This allows the admin to manage the users on the platform- Regular users and Student users.
Subscription Management: (regular/student users, cancellations, trials, revenue).
Analytics & Reports: Growth trends, popular categories, active institutions/users.
Institutions & Students: CRUD for pre-registered entities.
Settings: Admin restriction toggles and notifications.
Support & Help Desk: The chat interface and flow for interacting with users.

The Admin Dashboard enables platform management with two roles (Super Admin for full control; Regular Admin limited to adding documents—deletes require Super Admin approval):

Overview: For the admin to track metrics (users, subscribers, documents, categories), registration graphs, recent uploads.
Legal Database: For the admin to upload documents and create categories.
User Management: This allows the admin to manage the users on the platform- Regular users and Student users.
Subscription Management: (regular/student users, cancellations, trials, revenue).
Analytics & Reports: Growth trends, popular categories, active institutions/users.
Institutions & Students: CRUD for pre-registered entities.
Settings: Admin restriction toggles and notifications.
Support & Help Desk: The chat interface and flow for interacting with users.

(Admin dashboard with overview, user registration graph and document upload history)

(Support & Help Desk; showcasing a conversation between the admin and a user)

The Challenge 🧩

Legal professionals in Nigeria and many African markets face fragmented, costly, and incomplete access to legal resources. Global tools are often Western-focused, subscription-expensive, or weak on local case law (e.g., Nigerian Supreme Court rulings or regional precedents).
Digitization gaps, unreliable connectivity, high costs, and scattered sources lead to wasted hours on research. Small firms, solo practitioners, students, and emerging-market lawyers suffer most—risking outdated information, missed precedents, or exclusion from global standards.

Legal professionals in Nigeria and many African markets face fragmented, costly, and incomplete access to legal resources. Global tools are often Western-focused, subscription-expensive, or weak on local case law (e.g., Nigerian Supreme Court rulings or regional precedents).
Digitization gaps, unreliable connectivity, high costs, and scattered sources lead to wasted hours on research. Small firms, solo practitioners, students, and emerging-market lawyers suffer most—risking outdated information, missed precedents, or exclusion from global standards.

Legal professionals in Nigeria and many African markets face fragmented, costly, and incomplete access to legal resources. Global tools are often Western-focused, subscription-expensive, or weak on local case law (e.g., Nigerian Supreme Court rulings or regional precedents).
Digitization gaps, unreliable connectivity, high costs, and scattered sources lead to wasted hours on research. Small firms, solo practitioners, students, and emerging-market lawyers suffer most—risking outdated information, missed precedents, or exclusion from global standards.

How do we seamlessly organize thousands of documents across a variety of sectors and regions?

How do we stop wasting hours hunting for the right precedent across scattered databases?

How do teams collaborate on research without version chaos or lost notes?

How can small firms or emerging markets get big-law-level legal resources without huge costs?

These were some of the questions we explored at the start of the project, helping us clarify the core motivations behind building Lexark in the first place.

These were some of the questions we explored at the start of the project, helping us clarify the core motivations behind building Lexark in the first place.

These were some of the questions we explored at the start of the project, helping us clarify the core motivations behind building Lexark in the first place.

Core issues included:
- Organizing thousands of documents across sectors and regions without gaps or bias.
- Ensuring verifiable, hallucination-free results in a high-stakes profession.
- Enabling secure collaboration while upholding privacy and compliance.
- Delivering speed alongside depth for diverse users.
- Overcoming skepticism toward new tools in a conservative legal community.

Core issues included:
- Organizing thousands of documents across sectors and regions without gaps or bias.
- Ensuring verifiable, hallucination-free results in a high-stakes profession.
- Enabling secure collaboration while upholding privacy and compliance.
- Delivering speed alongside depth for diverse users.
- Overcoming skepticism toward new tools in a conservative legal community.

Core issues included:
- Organizing thousands of documents across sectors and regions without gaps or bias.
- Ensuring verifiable, hallucination-free results in a high-stakes profession.
- Enabling secure collaboration while upholding privacy and compliance.
- Delivering speed alongside depth for diverse users.
- Overcoming skepticism toward new tools in a conservative legal community.

The document viewer, originally designed with a dedicated reading mode, was later simplified into a standard viewer without reading tools. While I was a bit disappointed that this feature wasn’t fully developed, I completely understand the time constraints that made the decision necessary.

The Goal 🎯

Upon launch, Lexark targeted clear, realistic success metrics to prove strong product-market fit in underserved markets (especially Nigeria and Africa), drive sustainable early growth, and deliver immediate user value. These estimated, achievable KPIs—designed to be tracked via the admin analytics dashboard—were:

User Acquisition & Growth: Reach 5,000+ registered users within the first 12 months, with 20% month-over-month growth in the first 6 months.
Adoption & Engagement: Achieve 30%+ activation rate (users completing a search/upload in first session); target DAU/MAU ratio of 15–25% (indicating stickiness for research-heavy tool); average 3+ sessions per active user per week.
Retention & Churn: Monthly retention rate >60% for active users; churn <15% monthly among subscribers.
Conversion & Monetization: Freemium-to-paid conversion rate of 10–15% (via Go Pro); positive subscription revenue growth, targeting $10K+ MRR within year 1 with low cancellation rates (<10%).
Product Usage & Value: 50%+ of users engaging with Browse/Library weekly; 20%+ using Workspace for collaboration; increasing document uploads (crowdsourced growth) and frequent category browses in core Nigerian/African legal areas.
Satisfaction & Efficiency: Reduced perceived research time (user feedback target: 50%+ time savings); low support ticket volume relative to user base; rising active institutions (law schools/firms).

These forward-looking goals focused on early traction, meaningful engagement, and a viable path to revenue in a niche, trust-sensitive, and cost-conscious market.

User Acquisition & Growth: Reach 5,000+ registered users within the first 12 months, with 20% month-over-month growth in the first 6 months.
Adoption & Engagement: Achieve 30%+ activation rate (users completing a search/upload in first session); target DAU/MAU ratio of 15–25% (indicating stickiness for research-heavy tool); average 3+ sessions per active user per week.
Retention & Churn: Monthly retention rate >60% for active users; churn <15% monthly among subscribers.
Conversion & Monetization: Freemium-to-paid conversion rate of 10–15% (via Go Pro); positive subscription revenue growth, targeting $10K+ MRR within year 1 with low cancellation rates (<10%).
Product Usage & Value: 50%+ of users engaging with Browse/Library weekly; 20%+ using Workspace for collaboration; increasing document uploads (crowdsourced growth) and frequent category browses in core Nigerian/African legal areas.
Satisfaction & Efficiency: Reduced perceived research time (user feedback target: 50%+ time savings); low support ticket volume relative to user base; rising active institutions (law schools/firms).

These forward-looking goals focused on early traction, meaningful engagement, and a viable path to revenue in a niche, trust-sensitive, and cost-conscious market.

User Acquisition & Growth: Reach 5,000+ registered users within the first 12 months, with 20% month-over-month growth in the first 6 months.
Adoption & Engagement: Achieve 30%+ activation rate (users completing a search/upload in first session); target DAU/MAU ratio of 15–25% (indicating stickiness for research-heavy tool); average 3+ sessions per active user per week.
Retention & Churn: Monthly retention rate >60% for active users; churn <15% monthly among subscribers.
Conversion & Monetization: Freemium-to-paid conversion rate of 10–15% (via Go Pro); positive subscription revenue growth, targeting $10K+ MRR within year 1 with low cancellation rates (<10%).
Product Usage & Value: 50%+ of users engaging with Browse/Library weekly; 20%+ using Workspace for collaboration; increasing document uploads (crowdsourced growth) and frequent category browses in core Nigerian/African legal areas.
Satisfaction & Efficiency: Reduced perceived research time (user feedback target: 50%+ time savings); low support ticket volume relative to user base; rising active institutions (law schools/firms).

These forward-looking goals focused on early traction, meaningful engagement, and a viable path to revenue in a niche, trust-sensitive, and cost-conscious market.

(The Workspace feature was excluded from the initial MVP, with plans to develop and release it at a later stage.)

The Solution 💡

Lexark was built to democratize legal research with targeted features:

✅ Intelligent search with auto-complete, category filters, and context-aware results—accessible instantly to guests for immediate value.
✅ User-upload and sharing in Library to crowdsource local content quickly.
✅ Simplified PDF viewer for faster MVP launch and iteration.
✅ Workspace for secure team collaboration.
✅ Freemium model (guest search + free tier) to lower entry barriers in cost-sensitive markets and hook users with upfront utility.
✅ Robust admin tools for content curation, growth tracking, and support.
✅ Emphasis on Nigerian/African coverage to address global tool gaps.
✅ Role-based admin controls to ensure data quality and security.
✅ Development prioritized speed-to-value: simplifying non-core features and enabling pre-signup access freed resources for core search and local inclusivity while reducing adoption friction.

Lexark was built to democratize legal research with targeted features:

✅ Intelligent search with auto-complete, category filters, and context-aware results—accessible instantly to guests for immediate value.
✅ User-upload and sharing in Library to crowdsource local content quickly.
✅ Simplified PDF viewer for faster MVP launch and iteration.
✅ Workspace for secure team collaboration.
✅ Freemium model (guest search + free tier) to lower entry barriers in cost-sensitive markets and hook users with upfront utility.
✅ Robust admin tools for content curation, growth tracking, and support.
✅ Emphasis on Nigerian/African coverage to address global tool gaps.
✅ Role-based admin controls to ensure data quality and security.
✅ Development prioritized speed-to-value: simplifying non-core features and enabling pre-signup access freed resources for core search and local inclusivity while reducing adoption friction.

Lexark was built to democratize legal research with targeted features:

✅ Intelligent search with auto-complete, category filters, and context-aware results—accessible instantly to guests for immediate value.
✅ User-upload and sharing in Library to crowdsource local content quickly.
✅ Simplified PDF viewer for faster MVP launch and iteration.
✅ Workspace for secure team collaboration.
✅ Freemium model (guest search + free tier) to lower entry barriers in cost-sensitive markets and hook users with upfront utility.
✅ Robust admin tools for content curation, growth tracking, and support.
✅ Emphasis on Nigerian/African coverage to address global tool gaps.
✅ Role-based admin controls to ensure data quality and security.
✅ Development prioritized speed-to-value: simplifying non-core features and enabling pre-signup access freed resources for core search and local inclusivity while reducing adoption friction.

interact with live project

The Results 🥳

Post-launch, Lexark has shown promising early traction among Nigerian legal users:

Steady registered user growth, with increasing conversions to subscribed (regular + student) tiers via Go Pro.
Strong engagement in Browse and Library—users report noticeably faster precedent location and access to shared/local documents.
Positive analytics trends: Rising document uploads (via crowdsourcing), active institutions (law schools/firms), and frequent browses in key areas like Regulations, Acts, and State laws.
Improved support efficiency through FAQs and chat—fewer escalated tickets.
Upward subscription revenue trajectory with relatively low cancellations among engaged users.

Post-launch, Lexark has shown promising early traction among Nigerian legal users:

Steady registered user growth, with increasing conversions to subscribed (regular + student) tiers via Go Pro.
Strong engagement in Browse and Library—users report noticeably faster precedent location and access to shared/local documents.
Positive analytics trends: Rising document uploads (via crowdsourcing), active institutions (law schools/firms), and frequent browses in key areas like Regulations, Acts, and State laws.
Improved support efficiency through FAQs and chat—fewer escalated tickets.
Upward subscription revenue trajectory with relatively low cancellations among engaged users.

Post-launch, Lexark has shown promising early traction among Nigerian legal users:

Steady registered user growth, with increasing conversions to subscribed (regular + student) tiers via Go Pro.
Strong engagement in Browse and Library—users report noticeably faster precedent location and access to shared/local documents.
Positive analytics trends: Rising document uploads (via crowdsourcing), active institutions (law schools/firms), and frequent browses in key areas like Regulations, Acts, and State laws.
Improved support efficiency through FAQs and chat—fewer escalated tickets.
Upward subscription revenue trajectory with relatively low cancellations among engaged users.

Key Takeaways 👌🏾

🚢

Speed-to-value wins early;

Simplifying features (e.g., PDF viewer) and offering guest search enabled quicker launch, real-user insights, and lower signup hesitation.

👥

Crowdsourcing accelerates coverage;

User uploads and document sharing will build strong local content faster than manual efforts alone.

🚢

Freemium + instant value lowers barriers fast;

Instant guest access in cost-sensitive markets drives adoption; engaged users convert reliably.

🛠️

Admin tools drive quality & iteration;

Role-based controls, analytics, and support features help maintain standards and respond quickly to growth.

🫱🏽‍🫲🏾

Accuracy builds trust fastest;

Role-based controls, analytics, and support features help maintain standards and respond quickly to growth.

🔍

Guest access turns curiosity into commitment;

Allowing meaningful value (search and document viewing) before sign-up dramatically reduces friction and boosts conversion in trust-heavy, emerging markets like Nigeria.