Ediscovery Search Facilities
As design owner of Ediscovery search facilities, I shipped value against a unique blend of domain and technical constraints. This study breaks down my work and impact in this role, which continues to drive millions in sales each year.
About this case study
This case study is distinct from others because it focuses on breadth over depth to communicate broad impact in my role as lead designer of Ediscovery search facilities. The initiatives described here are underpinned by its own research, discovery, and cross-functional collaboration. For in-depth examples of my design process, check out my other case studies.
Why Search design matters
CS Disco's primary revenue driver is its Ediscovery platform, and search is central to ediscovery. My search design work is existential not only to CS Disco, but to the legal outcomes litigators pursue with our software—setting legal precedent that shapes all of our lives.
Case study contents
STR Hit Attribution
Extending mass search throughout the platform
Shaping strategy through collaboration
Driving cross-functional alignment
Experimental innovations
Driving explorations that serve the whole team
Shaping search patterns and UX
Extensive design touching all parts of the platform
10
successful integrations into various user-facing app touch points
Search Builder
Doc List Filters
Search View Configuration
Doc List Cells
User Permissions
Doc List Export
Doc Viewer
Search Builder
Productions Metadata
New Search Filter Depth
Designed stateful and powerful new filters, expanding established functionality to offer nuanced STR hit assessment in the primary doc list
Updated exports
Supported DLE workflows
STR Columns in the Doc List
Brought STR insights 'home' to the primary doc list, surfacing context amid complex, high-density data
"It's amazing to see which terms my docs are responsive to. And vice versa."
STR Hit Attribution
Search Term Reports are a powerful mass search mechanism that enable asynchronous content search across millions of documents. Historically, STRs were cordoned off from other platform facilities. This work extended previous enhancements to surface actionable, contextual STR hits throughout the broader platform, with special focus on tying it to other search facilities for a well-rounded search experience.
Project process
My design process here was non-linear because of the nature of the work. I inherited some discovery to build upon, taking up the mantle with self-directed research to bring the feature to the next level. Being new-ish to the Search team, I focused my effort on deep cross-functional collaboration to check my assumptions and support my own search mastery alongside design iterations.
Why it matters
At its core, DISCO Ediscovery is a search and review platform that helps litigators manage extremely high volumes of data-dense documents. STRs are a powerful way to orchestrate searches, made dramatically more useful by this work to surface STR context throughout Ediscovery.
Some things can't be shared
Although I can't share more details about the design of this feature, I'm happy to discuss my general approach to complex feature design, and the cross-functional collaboration it demands.
I engage engineering partners throughout the whole design process—with constant joint ideation to shift away from isolation, toward building together
"
Collaborative roadmap definition
Continuously worked with Product to shape a living roadmap around user feedback, market signal, and technical constraint
Constant async collaboration
Drove meetings where they were needed; drove asynchronous collab where possible
Weekly design recordings
Kept engineers in the design loop via scoped, detailed, asynchronous updates to inspire collaboration without wasting working time
Long-term strategic planning
Worked with Product and Engineering leaders to identify market opportunities, organize our shared vision against constraints, and establish accountability metrics
80%
of 2025 research sessions brought engineers into the fold
Dev attendees
Regular readouts
Followup discussions
Research shaped by eng input
Real design partnership
Drove collaborative weekly planning, strategy, and leadership updates with product trio
Firm Partner
Attorney
Ediscovery Lead
Lit Support
Visible research
Empowered the team with research readouts
No such thing as siloed design
Engaged engineering partners throughout the whole design process—with constant joint ideation to shift away from isolation toward building together
Shaping strategy through collaboration
More details land August 26, 2026
Details coming soon.
Details coming soon.
Details coming soon.
Experimental innovations
More details land August 26, 2026
Some things can't be shared
Although I can't share feature exploration specifics, I'm happy to discuss my general approach to proactive design exploration and the role I see it playing in healthy long-term product strategy.
Details coming soon.
Details coming soon.
Details coming soon.
Shaping search patterns and UX
More details land August 26, 2026