Museum of Fine Arts employees managed dozens of paper forms daily, creating inefficient workflows and tracking challenges.

As a part of Sandbox, Northeastern's student-led software consultancy, I worked on a team of 7 developers and 2 designers to complete and ship a digital platform that streamlines this process digitally. By allowing users to create template-based forms with role-specific signature workflows and housing these in a centralized dashboard, we transformed how MFA Boston employees request and complete forms - - eliminating paper bottlenecks and reducing completion time.

By joining the MFA Forms team mid-project, I brought fresh eyes to evaluate existing designs and identify interaction improvements. Throughout the semester, I focused on refining task flows and enhancing user interactions across key pages.

Using feedback to design a complete user flow

Designing the sign form instance flow improved my attention to detail and taught me what it means to consider a variety of users -- from familiar admin members to new employees -- across the entire process. Weekly critiques with fellow Sandbox designers revealed pain points I'd missed, like unclear signing requirements and confusing progress indicators. These insights drove iterations that made the signing process more intuitive and reduced user errors.

Takeaways:
1 Learned how to work directly with developers
2 Jumped into a project partway through

Working on MFA Forms taught me to understand preexisting design decisions made by former designers, and use this understanding to contribute meaningfully to an ongoing project. Building strong designer-developer relationships also improved my communication skills and ability to justify my own design decisions.