The Opportunity
With AI becoming increasingly prevalent among SaaS providers, Spotlight needed to develop a clear AI strategy. Many of our competitors had already launched AI integrations, so we had to take a responsible, staged approach to adopting this technology in a way that aligned with our vision and delivered real value to our users.
My Role
I was involved in this project from its inception, playing a key role from initial research and product design, through to the release of our first MVP and beyond.
Step One: Research
Due to the commercial sensitivity of the project, we had to be cautious about revealing our AI strategy too early to competitors. As a result, we couldn’t conduct fresh user interviews initially. Instead, we leveraged existing interview data and conducted a thorough review of customer feedback to identify the most valuable AI-driven opportunities for our product.
In parallel, I performed an in-depth analysis of our competitors’ AI offerings and explored how companies in adjacent industries were using AI. This research was supplemented with extensive exploration of emerging AI technologies to understand their capabilities and potential applications within our product.
Step Two: Brainstorming & Initial concepts and wireframes
Once the research phase was complete, I presented my findings to key stakeholders and the cross-functional team. Together, we conducted a brainstorming session to explore possible AI integrations. From these discussions, we identified several promising directions, which I then translated into wireframes.
We reviewed the wireframes collectively and identified the most viable approach to move forward with.
Step Three: Refining Designs & Supporting Development
After selecting the preferred approach, I collaborated with the team to refine the design details. We conducted a story mapping session to outline the development process before moving into the implementation phase.
As development progressed, I transitioned into a production design role, where I worked closely with developers to ensure clarity around design intent, answered questions, and created additional assets as needed to support the process.
The Future
Following the release of the MVP to a select beta group, we will closely monitor performance, gather user feedback, and iterate before rolling it out to a broader audience. Looking ahead, we have ambitious plans to further integrate AI across other areas of our product, ensuring that we continue to deliver meaningful value to our customers.
