Alfresco, a leading provider of open-source-based document management systems, empowers enterprises to manage their content effectively with robust information governance and GDPR compliance. Alfresco’s solutions serve a wide range of users—from HR managers to call centre staff—across various sectors, including insurance and manufacturing.
As a rapidly expanding tech company, Alfresco was grappling with the need to gain a deep understanding of its diverse partner and customer base. This insight was essential to inform their product roadmap and ensure their offerings were aligned with market demands. The challenge was to identify and prioritise the critical needs of various customer profiles, from decision-makers to end users, to ensure that Alfresco's products met the specific requirements of its varied clientele.
littlevoice was brought in to tackle this challenge through comprehensive customer research that would inform the subsequent strategic product development. Using modern product development techniques like the Jobs-to-be-Done framework, littlevoice delved deep into the needs and behaviours of Alfresco’s customers and partners. The research went beyond mere data collection; it was about extracting actionable insights that could be seamlessly integrated into Alfresco’s product management processes.
littlevoice engaged directly with Alfresco's customers, including significant partners like Cisco, NASA, and Red Hat, to validate design concepts through mock-ups and prototypes. This iterative approach allowed for continuous refinement of the designs, ensuring they were user-friendly and aligned with the platform's technical requirements. Thus, the final designs were seamless, intuitive, and tailored to the diverse needs of Alfresco’s user base.
Impact: The insights gained from littlevoice's research provided Alfresco with clear direction and enhanced focus, enabling the company to transform its product strategy and design and accelerate its product development. This included successfully launching a revamped mobile experience and an improved documentation portal, which addressed critical customer pain points with precision and speed.
Mo Ladha, VP of Product Management at Alfresco. “littlevoice’s perseverance in engaging with our customers—especially in the challenging B2B space—and their ability to summarise findings clearly and coherently was tremendously valuable. Their work influenced our strategic investments and built confidence within our product organisation that we could deliver on those requirements. Their work has enhanced our product development tenfold, providing clear direction and speed to market.”
Furthermore, the designs informed by littlevoice's research were meticulously aligned with Alfresco’s platform, avoiding accessibility issues and drastically reducing the time and frustration users typically experience with document management systems. The result was a more efficient and user-friendly experience, allowing users to perform their jobs more effectively and with significantly less stress.
Mo Ladha further emphasises, “littlevoice’s efforts boosted our product team’s ability to validate their thinking, making them an almost extended part of our team. Their contributions have been critical in building a product that truly resonates with our customers.”
Tony: “Everybody can read a book about how to create a customer journey, but actually it's a real talent to be able to create something out of conversations and other customer journey that actually adds value to the product organization”
Modernising legacy products to retain customers and unlock new sales
Full overview
Understanding customers in complex enterprise context and unlocking insights for strategic product development
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