Key Takeaways
King & Spalding needed a next-generation intranet that could serve the complex information and collaboration needs of a leading global law firm
OneSpring provided specialized intranet design expertise, combining strategy, research, UX/UI design, and visual design to build a solution that balanced great UX with complex legal workflows
The redesign demonstrated how design-led thinking can navigate complexity in established, paper-based industries — delivering a modern intranet aligned to attorney and staff needs
Project Overview
King & Spalding is a leader in the legal industry with a focus on utilizing technology to further their mission. OneSpring has worked with King & Spalding on several internal initiatives, most notably an Intranet Redesign effort.
What We Did
Designing In-House
OneSpring worked closely with King & Spalding to help define and design a next generation Intranet solution. To accomplish this OneSpring had to bring on talent knowledge in Intranet design and best practice. In order to implement a successful Intranet solution for King & Spalding we had to incorporate great design while catering to the complex needs of the organization.
Next Generation Legal Systems
Developing complex systems within an established, complicated, and paper based industry requires specialized consultants that understand the space. Ramp up takes time and requires broad based consensus.
As a result, OneSpring uses design to help communicate complex problem. We have found over the years that design crosses industries and is not inhibited by complexity. This is the position we took with King & Spalding.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did OneSpring do for King & Spalding?
OneSpring worked closely with King & Spalding to design a next-generation intranet solution for the global law firm. The engagement covered strategy, research, UX/UI design, and visual design — bringing specialized intranet expertise to help define and design a system that met the complex collaboration and information needs of the firm's attorneys and staff.
Why do law firms have unique intranet design challenges?
Law firms are complex organizations where information access, document management, and internal communication directly affect client outcomes. Attorneys need fast, reliable access to precedents, contacts, and matter information — but legal workflows are specialized and paper-based conventions run deep. Designing an intranet for a firm like King & Spalding requires understanding both great UX and the specific operational context of legal practice.
What is a usability and performance assessment for legal applications?
A usability and performance assessment evaluates how well internal tools support the workflows of their users — in this case, attorneys, legal assistants, and administrative staff at a law firm. It examines whether users can find information efficiently, complete tasks without workarounds, and trust the system to perform reliably under real-world usage conditions.
How does design help communicate complexity in enterprise software?
Complex systems become manageable when design makes the underlying structure visible and navigable. OneSpring's approach to King & Spalding's intranet used design not just to make things look better, but to make relationships between information clear — surfacing the right content at the right time and reducing the cognitive effort required to navigate complex legal information environments.
Why is cross-industry design expertise valuable for enterprise UX projects?
Good UX principles translate across industries — even highly specialized ones like law. Design teams that have worked across sectors bring pattern recognition that subject-matter-only experts lack. For King & Spalding, OneSpring's broad enterprise design experience meant the team could navigate complexity and apply proven interaction patterns without the steep learning curve that domain-specific consultants might require.
What makes an intranet redesign successful for a large professional services firm?
Success requires understanding how different user types — partners, associates, paralegals, and administrative staff — have different information needs and usage patterns. The design must accommodate high-frequency tasks with minimum friction, support discoverability for less-frequent needs, and build trust through reliability and consistency. Consensus-building among stakeholders is as important as the design itself.
How does OneSpring approach design for complex, established organizations?
OneSpring starts by getting close to how the organization actually operates — not how leadership thinks it operates. Research uncovers the real workflows, workarounds, and information gaps that shape daily work. From there, design is used as a communication tool to build shared understanding across stakeholders and create solutions that are both ambitious and practically implementable.