I finally got the bandwidth to be briefed on the new Aero UI for RelativityOne that was announced last Relativity Fest. For years I have not-so-gently pushed the kCura/Relativity PM team to create a user interface that was more approachable. Andrew Sieja’s ‘expert platform for experts’ pleased power users while generating adoption resistance from corporate and retained counsel who just wanted to dive into their data. The good news is that the team resisted the TCDI CVFox strategy of dual interfaces (simple/full featured) with different pricing. Instead they spent the time to understand and highlight the highest priority workflows while shifting more advanced functionality to the MORE tab. I will reserve my final judgment on efficiency improvements and adoption uptake until my next protocol or matter support engagement. I will say that the new sidebar navigation, integrated dynamic analytics and automated workflows promise to dramatically reduce the sheer number of clicks and potential for context disorientation.
Here are a couple highlights with my perspective on the user impact:
- Navigation sidebar and page hierarchy – Easier to track context and dynamically navigate/search thru facets to refine large data sets. Breadcrumb tracking, favorite pages and open an All Tabs full page menu to find that pesky function. Want more default layouts for specific ECA, culling, QC, etc. usage scenarios to reveal/hide appropriate widgets.
- Standardized labels, buttons and action colors – Much easier on the eyes. Better support for users with issues distinguishing colors or low contrast UIs.
- New Aero document viewer –Presents large documents faster while loading. Gives Relativity more control of text extraction, tokenization and hit navigation within docs.
- Coding layout & related/family documents – Expands coding/record field space and doc-to-doc speed. Docking pane support will come soon (weeks).
- Automated Workflows – This can be a game changer for corporate lit support managers. Preset your protocol defaults and build a one click processing to pre-review data categorization. Less so for ALSP’s who have not transitioned to managed service relationships.
I am looking forward to seeing how my corporate clients respond to the Pay-As-You-Go pricing and the Aero UI. The Aero UI is still a little more complex than many of the self-service eDiscovery platforms (Logikcull, Everlaw, DISCO, etc.), but that is a good thing. Overly simplistic workflows and controls make a one-size-fits-all eDiscovery easy button that may not support many customer scenarios. The new Aero UI is easier to approach. A good ALSP or Lit Support PM should be able to set up streamlined layouts for investigators or counsel trying to triage collections or rapidly assess case strategies.