Contract Review AI
Turning contract review chaos - once managed through emails and spreadsheets - into clarity and collaboration, with AI as the first reviewer on every contract.
Industries
SaaS / Fintech / CLM
Services
Lead Product Design
Date
Mar - Dec 2024
Team
Product Manager, Engineers, Leadership
Context
Company - Venminder
Venminder is a vendor risk management platform that centralizes vendor data, contracts, and compliance, helping organizations efficiently assess risk and manage third-party relationships.
Where it began
A client revealed they reviewed contracts through emails and Excel sheets, spending hours hunting for the latest version or tracking who marked it up. They said if Venminder built a solution for this, it’d be worth an upsell. Fifteen more clients echoed the same pain.
Problem Statement
Contract owners struggled to keep track of multiple versions of the contract, while contract reviewers spent hours checking standard clauses - creating frustration, confusion, and delays in getting agreements finalized.
Users were managing contract reviews through email and Excel leading to frustrations.
Manual reviews → time-consuming and error-prone.
Compliance/legal teams lacked visibility → high audit risk.
Clients frustrated with slow process.
User Personas
Contract Owners - Manages versions, sends for review, and tracks progress.
Need an AI first-pass review to flag risks and decide who to loop in.
Reviewers - Downloads, redlines, and re-uploads the contracts.
Need a clear AI cues on what to focus on, so they can file precise redlines quickly.
Approvers - Reviews the completed contract and approves it
Need confidence that every AI flag has been reviewed and resolved before sign-off.
Design Process
User Research and Insights
User interviews reveled these key challenges
Proposed User Flow
Hub and spoke flow, where the contract owner is responsible for coordinating with different teams and getting approval from leadership.
Opportunities for AI
AI reviews and flags clauses that require closer review.
AI monitors whether flagged issues are resolved.
Design Iterations
Option 1: Table
Pro: Highly organized, familiar and easy-to-scan layout
Con: Lacks visual hierarchy and can feel overwhelming when managing multiple versions
Option 2: Email Chain Format
Pro: Easy chat style. Version of the file is clear.
Con: Difficulty retrieving older conversations. Current status is unclear.
Option 3: Activity and Status
Pro: Clear overview of progress. Focus on the latest file. Predefined list of approvers
Con: No flexibility for changing the approvers.
Testing and Pivot
User testing uncovered two critical gaps in the workflow
the need to see reviews listed in order
the ability to manage multiple files within a single contract.
Solution
A centralized hub for managing contract redlines. Contract owner processes an AI review, and sends the contracts for review to internal and external stakeholders. Recipients are notified via email and can access the contract within the platform to suggest changes. After redlining, they can re-upload their version for review.
Key Features
Status
Displays the AI-generated score for a quick view of existing issues, along with who it’s been sent to and who it’s pending with—ensuring full transparency and accountability.
Version and Activity Tracking
Automatically tracks every contract version and action - uploads, reviews, and approvals - for clear accountability, tracking and audit trails at every step.
AI Review
AI flags potential issues within each section, helping users quickly spot what needs attention. As they mark items addressed, the AI score updates in real time - giving clear visibility into progress and remaining tasks.
Latest Version
Highlights the most recent file to eliminate confusion about which version to act on. Includes the primary Next Steps button - the single point of interaction for users to continue their workflow.
Prototype
Upload > AI Review > Send to expert
Impact and Outcome
Administrator, VRM
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