Work
Avvo.com
Legal Q&A Page
Improving the consumers’ search for answers to their legal questions Avvo.
In this project, I redesigned the legal question and answer page of Avvo.com. The Legal Q&A section of Avvo is a highly trafficked part of the site, thus a valuable site to put our efforts into crafting a beautiful user experience. The goal of this redesign was to grow consumer traffic and engagement, increase the product value for lawyers/law firms to leave legal answers, and incorporate SEO recommendations for better page performance and ranking.
This project resulted in:
A 17.1% increase in organic sessions across all search engines.
An increase in clicks to Attorney Profile (our subscribing lawyers) from Avvo Q&A Pages from .34% to .68% (+100%).
An increase in clicks to our Lawyer Directory from .059% to .35% (+479%).
View Live Site
Role
Lead Product Designer
Timeline
3 months | Launched Oct 2023
Team
Product Designer (Myself), Product Manager, Multiple Developers
What did I do?
Conduct heuristic analysis, create user stories, prototypes and hi-fidelity mockups for stakeholder review
Before
After
PROBLEM
Scrolling through attorney listings on the page was overwhelming for our users to concentrate on finding a lawyer.
The page needed improvement on information hierarchy. The page was looked overwhelming with ads on the right rail and disorganized content on the page leading to users were having trouble focusing on their goal for this page: Finding an attorney that matches their needs and interest.
What are our main goals for this redesign?
User Goals
01. Quick scan answers to legal questions
02. Determining whether they need to hire a lawyer
03. Discover their options - hire/consult with a lawyer or ask their own question
Business Goals
01. Improve conversions from Q&A - clicks to the lawyer directory, profiles, or contacts
02. Improve organic site traffic through SEO
03. Increase valuable content - more people asking questions
How might we guide consumers smoothly from question discovery to actionable solutions?
Collaborating with Product Managers, Developers, and SEO, our goal is to clearly highlight the value of Avvo Q&A to consumers and clients alike, improving the sites current information hierarchy and decluttering the page, making our user’s search for legal help easier to navigate.
01. Research
Heuristic Analysis
After an initial analysis, I uncovered possible root causes of low engagement: cluttered display causing users to be overwhelmed, distraction from ads, and the need for better visual hierarchy. These insights became the driver of my design decisions to directly address user pain points and create meaningful improvements.
Assumptions
Cluttered Interface
With a lot of colors and content floating on the page, it can be easy for a consumer to get overwhelmed and frustrated searching for their legal answer.
Distraction of Ads
Nested within each answer is an ad that disrupts the consumers experience, also making it harder to pinpoint where the answer is exactly.
Visual Balance
With a lot of actions the consumer can take on the page, it can be hard to make the user focus on their number one priority, finding their answer.
Who are we designing for?
After a quick heuristic analysis, we flushed out our user types/personas so that we don’t miss any windows of opportunity to help all user types.
User Types/Personas
First-Time Visitor (Casual Researcher)
Goal: Learn about their legal issue, browse similar cases, and determine if they need a lawyer.
Journey Flow:
1. Landing Page → Easy Search + Categorized Questions
2.View Popular Questions → Most-Asked Legal Topics
3. Read Answers → Verified Lawyers vs. Community Responses
4. Legal Guides & Next Steps → Do I Need a Lawyer? Decision Tool
UX Considerations:
Include a related question section for relevant content
Featured trending legal issues (e.g., “What to do if I’m evicted?”)
Beginner-friendly explanations (like “Legal 101” guides)
User with an Urgent Legal Question
Goal: Get a fast, credible answer for immediate action.
More prone to using:
✅ Quick Question Submission → Simple Form (Category, State, Details)
✅ Verified Lawyer Response Option → Ask a Lawyer for Free/Paid Advice
✅ Instant Consultation CTA → Call a Lawyer Now
UX Considerations:
“Ask Now, Get Answers Fast” feature
Live Chat / 24/7 Lawyer Consultation integration
Highlight average response time (“Most answers within 2 hours”)
User Comparing Multiple Legal Perspectives
Goal: Review different expert opinions before making a decision.
Journey Flow:
1. Search or Browse by Topic → Multiple Answers per Question
2. Sort by Most Helpful or Lawyer-Verified Answers
3. View Attorney Profiles & Compare Credentials
4. Bookmark or Save Answers for Later Reference
UX Considerations:
Side-by-side comparison UI for multiple answers
Attorney profile information presence
Ability to follow up with additional questions/comments
User Ready to Hire a Lawyer
Goal: Find a lawyer who specializes in their issue and is available now.
Journey Flow:
1. Search Legal Issue & Location → “Find a Lawyer” CTA
2. View Attorney Listings with Ratings & Fees
3. Compare & Read Reviews
4. Book a Consultation (Free or Paid)
UX Considerations:
“Find a Lawyer” prominently placed after questions are answered
Filtered search (Location, Expertise, Reviews, Fees)
“Nearby/Next Available Lawyers” for urgent cases
02. Analysis
Just to Recap... What are we changing?
After taking a look at different user types and opportunities within each, here are some features we aim to add that after chatting with our developers, are feasible to add:
Include a related question section for relevant content
“Ask Now, Get Answers Fast” feature
Live Chat / 24/7 Lawyer Consultation integration
Attorney profile information presence
Ability to follow up with additional questions/comments
“Find a Lawyer” prominently placed after questions are answered
“Nearby/Next Available Lawyers” for urgent cases
Legal Consultation Recommended feature
Improve Visual Hierarchy ✅
We want our users to focus on the information in this order:
Legal Question and Answer
Ask a Question
Attorneys near you to contact
Related Content
Minimize Disruptions ✅
We want to give the ads that are necessary to stay on the page less emphasis so to minimize distraction to a user while they are navigating the page.
Adding New Helpful Features ✅
After completing an analysis of the different user types, we found opportunities to add a few helpful features for the consumer journey.
Legal Consultation Recommended feature
Live Chat / 24/7 Lawyer Consultation integration
03. Ideation
Designing through the lens of our users
Let’s take a look at what we designed to improve the current page.
Key Page Design Changes
Visual Decluttering: Got rid of the right rail
To reduce visual clutter, we expanded the content of the page to the full width and got rid of the right rail so consumers could just focus on the cards themselves
Before
After
Visual Decluttering: Define Question vs. Answer Cards
To allow users to quickly identify the question versus the answers, we separated them in containers with clear tags so it is immediately clear to a user upon landing which is the question and answer.
Before
After
Guiding Users Actions
To better guide our users on their next steps, we clearly defined an action module so it’s clear to the user of their other actions may be interested in taking, while not detracting from their experience reading through the legal content.
Before
After
05. Reflection
A Step Forward...
This was a fun project for me to improve Avvo.com and working with a forum type of webpage. The site has been outdated for awhile in terms of UX practices as well as branding. This project was truly rewarding because of the immensely successful returns, and this page became the blueprint of the redesign of other pages on Avvo.com, with many elements reused in other page redesigns.
In the next steps, I would like to retest the page with another round of user testing to determine how consumers are faring currently in 2025 and if there are any additions we could add to improve it more.
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