I served as the sole & only UX designer on a project for Arctas.io, tasked with modernizing the proposal-writing process for government contractors. I worked on creating a seamless, AI-powered solution tailored to the needs of an older, paperwork-oriented audience.
The existing manual proposal-writing process was outdated and consisted a lot of constantly cross-checking old documents, and answering new prompts tailored to new big proposals. Our goal was to simplify the experience by designing a user-friendly, AI-enhanced interface that automated repetitive tasks and appealed to an audience unfamiliar with modern digital tools.
Adapting to the user's traditions
We discovered that government contractors were already deeply integrated into the Microsoft Suite for long-term document management, making migration to a new system costly and impractical. While the original interface was a web-based document editor with auto-generated expandable tabs, users expressed the need for a tool that complemented their existing workflows without requiring extensive retraining. We pivoted to a solution where teams could upload their past documents into our database, enabling the AI to fine-tune its model based on their historical data. This approach reduced inaccuracies and eliminated the risk of hallucinations—common with tools like ChatGPT that might generate content outside the scope of their documents.
Input & Output Transparency
We aimed to enhance Input Transparency by giving users greater control over the tools they use. For instance, when responding to an RFI (Request for Information) for a proposal, users can select the specific tool that suits their needs. The AI then references the documents uploaded by the user to generate results. To maintain clarity and trust, all sources for the AI-generated content are displayed in a dedicated Knowledge Base section on the page. Each result is accompanied by hyperlinks, allowing users to click through and navigate directly to the exact page where the referenced information is located, ensuring seamless access to source material.
I also designed various assets to enhance the user experience, ranging from creating dynamic states for document uploads—such as handling scenarios where not all required document types are fulfilled—to developing an intuitive onboarding process and additional supportive features that streamline the overall workflow.
