Expanding an AI search engine to a comprehensive company hub, centralizing knowledge and resources, leading to 5 deployments and a 14% boost in daily usage.

Dashworks

Overview

Dashworks, an AI search engine company, aims to develop a Chrome extension that takes over users' new tabs. To achieve this, we need to offer more value than just a search tool. Through numerous interviews and discussions, it has become clear that we must go beyond simple search functionality and evolve into a company hub that connects all knowledge, while also reflecting the company’s culture and values.


Role

Research, wireframing, high-fidelity design, prototyping & testing


Interface

Web & Chrome extension

Problems

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Define minimum requirements

We need to identify the minimum requirements for company administrators to approve and deploy a Chrome extension, ensuring it aligns with organizational needs, policies, and workflows.

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Value proposition

Demonstrate clear benefits to both administrators and employees, such as increased productivity or streamlined workflows.

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User adoption & growth

Design the extension with employees in mind, focusing on usability and engagement. Features like a user-friendly interface, customizable options, and immediate value-adds.

Research & Finding

Through interviews and user discussions, we discovered that users want a solution that not only integrates search but also serves as a comprehensive company hub, connecting all knowledge and resources in one place.

Seamless access to company-wide knowledge
Centralizing key information from various tools, documents, and platforms is essential for efficient workflows. Users highlighted the need for a single interface that provides access to internal documentation, team updates, shared project files, and organizational policies. By aggregating and streamlining this knowledge, the hub can break down silos, save time spent searching for resources, and enable smoother collaboration across teams.

Embody and reflect the unique culture and values of the organization
This includes creating an experience that aligns with the company’s identity, from the tone and style of communication to the way content is presented and shared. It should reinforce the company’s mission and values, helping employees feel more connected to the larger organizational purpose. By integrating elements that celebrate and represent the company’s culture—such as personalized touches, community engagement tools, and recognition of achievements—the hub can foster a stronger sense of belonging and alignment. This ensures the tool not only meets functional needs but also strengthens the emotional and cultural connection employees have with their workplace.

The solution begins by allowing companies to customize their branding, with admins able to set the company logo, background, and pin important company bookmarks. This customization access is later extended to employees, giving them the ability to personalize their home page. The homepage is split evenly, with one half reflecting the company’s branding and essential resources, while the other half caters to the employee’s personal preferences, creating a balanced and tailored experience.

Employee customizable home page

We began by supporting company-wide announcements, which are displayed on the company homepage. Admins can also opt to cross-post these announcements via email with a simple toggle. The solution then expanded to include features like creating go links, collections, and answers. Each tool addresses a unique pain point, enabling admins to organize and share important information efficiently. Furthermore, any newly created knowledge is fully searchable within Dashworks, ensuring that both admins and employees can easily access and utilize the information.

Admin essential tooling

We offer a suite of tools that enable admins to address workplace challenges and efficiently manage company announcements, knowledge, and more. At the same time, we offer personalized customization for employees to ensure a seamless transition and demonstrate the value of the Chrome extension.

Outcome

After the launch, we observed a 9% increase in usage among existing users, along with a promising upward trend of a 14% increase in new users who performed at least one search within the first month.

We successfully onboarded 5 new companies that agreed to test and deploy the new Chrome extension with key stakeholders.

To further understand user behavior, we monitored and studied session replays via Mixpanel, allowing us to gain valuable insights into how users are interacting with the new web search. We also collected feedback from both existing and new users to drive the next round of design decisions and improvements, ensuring continuous refinement and enhancement of the user experience based on real user data and feedback.

What’s next


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