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DocuSign • 2023 • 6 weeks
DocuSign: 0-1 Helping notaries start notarizing documents
How can we assist notaries in setting up their profiles and uploading the necessary documentation, thus enabling them to securely notarize documents?
Company
01. Company
DocuSign is a platform for electronic signatures and digital document management
A lot of people probably heard of DocuSign. It is synonymous with signing a document online. You may have signed a rental lease with DocuSign. Wherever you are in the world, you can sign documents using your computer, tablet, or on your phone.
As of 2023, DocuSign has more than a million customers and a billion users who trust DocuSign with agreements.
To keep on solving problems for DocuSign's customers, DocuSign started building its notary feature.
Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash
Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash
After DocuSign
Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash
Project overview
02. Project overview
Why is DocuSign building an Notarization platform?
DocuSign's mission is to accelerate business and simplify life for companies and people around the world. As DocuSign grew they wanted to add a notary service to create a paperless notary process just like their eSignature product.
The Problem
1. Notarization process is slow - Notarizations are done on paper and pencil.
2. Lots of requirements to manage - Notaries don't always understand all the different types of required documents to be a remote notary. States have different requirements to become a remote notary.
Problem
Notaries don't always know all the required documentation and other state-level requirements to become a remote online notary within our eSign product.
Discover
03. Discover
Learning about Notaries
To get to know all the documentation needed to become a notary, I took the time to learn about the world of notaries and how they operate.
Why do notaries exist?
The purpose of a notary, specifically a notary public, is to serve as an impartial and authorized official who plays a crucial role in preventing fraud and ensuring the authenticity of certain legal documents and transactions.
Notaries verify the identities of individuals signing documents and ensure that they are doing so willingly and with full understanding of the contents of the document. This helps prevent identity theft, forgery, and coerced signings.
How do you start notarizing documents?
Becoming a notary differs from state to state. Once a person goes through the process of becoming a notary, they will these things to notarize:
1. Notary commission - official authorization granted by a government authority, typically at the state level in the United States, that allows an individual to act as a notary public.
2. Notary seal - This isn't required in every state, but it is a stamp to make people feel comfortable when a document is notarized.
3. Digital certificate - this is specific to online remote notaries (RON). A digital certificate is a digital document that contains information about the identity of the certificate holder
04. Research
Understand Required credentials for remote online notaries
I was fortunate that I teamed up with a fantastic UX researcher, and my Product Manager, who was incredibly well-versed in the world of notaries. They provided me with a lot of valuable support.
I also went out myself (outside company time) and conducted and interviewed a local notary to talk about her experiences being a notary. This was to help me understand all the pain points of a notary.
Top Pain points
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Notaries don't know/are not always on top of figuring out expiration dates
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Notaries have a hard time figuring out all the different documents to be compliant so they can remotely notarize documents
Research
Define
Define
Defining the project goals
Once our team had a good understanding of the biggest pain points, needs, technical constraints, and requirements, I went and refined the problem statement and got everything ready before the ideation phase.
Goals
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A way for notaries to upload and manage required documents
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A way for notaries to figure out when their documents are going to expire
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A way for document preparers to add notaries to the document.
Ideate & Solve
Ideate & Solve
Many ways to catch a mouse
I believe that there are numerous approaches to solving a problem. I took the time to carefully consider different possible methods through which I could help the team successfully achieve all the goals for this project
Ideas
A way to notify notaries when their required credentials expire
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Standard text messages
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Email
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In-app notification (website)
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After conducting notary sessions
A way for notaries to upload and manage all of their required credentials
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Profile page
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Notary onboarding
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Warning labels in the app
Designs
Designs
Uploading required documents by their state
Adding notarization to eSign experience
Conclusion
Conclusion
Summary
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0-1 project launched with few existing enterprise customers
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100+ notaries added required documentation
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Notaries easily onboarded required documents
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Next steps: Finding patterns state by state
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Next steps: Limiting notarizing documents when requirements have expired
Next steps
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Limiting notarizing documents when requirements have expired
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Creating a scalable solution across states
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