In the LEXICON framework for legal professionals, we have progressed from foundational principles to the systems and behaviors that shape everyday practice. We recently covered C – Cultivate a Knowledge-Sharing Culture, reinforcing KM as a routine part of professional life rather than an added task.
The next principle is deceptively simple. Even with strong culture and well-integrated systems, practitioners will avoid clunky tools. The “O” in LEXICON stands for Optimize for Ease of Use—the work of reducing friction, so the KM experience is intuitive, fast, and worth returning to.
Ease of use is not aesthetic; it determines whether people use KM at all. In practice, this means fewer clicks, clearer labels, faster search, and predictable starting points.
What Ease of Use Looks Like in Practice for Law Firms
Usability shows up in small, routine moments. For example:
- A lawyer needs a clause, types a few plain-language words into a familiar search box, and finds a current, trusted precedent in seconds.
- A junior associate joins a matter, opens one starting page, and can see core resources without guessing which system to check first.
- A knowledge person clicks a clearly labeled button for an external service instead of hunting through multiple menu options.
When tools are easy, people stop noticing the tool. Conversely, when tools are hard work, the same people default to calling a colleague, reusing something from an old email, or starting from scratch. Those choices are not a rejection of KM as an idea; they are a rational response to end-user friction.
The Challenge
Knowledge workers already operate in an environment of excess: too much content, too many locations, too many formats. In that setting, every extra decision or click adds cognitive load.
Typical problems include:
- Complex, confusing interfaces. Screens are busy, labels reflect internal jargon, and navigation paths make sense only to those who built them. Users are left asking, “Where do I put my material?” or “Which area should I even start with?”
- Dense, hard-to-scan content. Long documents bury the specific decision or step a practitioner needs. Reading and scanning becomes the work rather than a means to do the work.
- Fragmented tools and access. Content lives across multiple systems, often behind separate logins or several layers of navigation. Without a clear, unified “front door,” valuable resources become effectively invisible.
When KM feels slow or confusing, it is quickly demoted to “extra” rather than “essential”. Under time pressure, lawyers turn to faster options: colleagues, old drafts, or external search engines. The official KM environment becomes the last resort instead of the first.
The Solution: Design KM for Human Behavior
Optimizing for ease of use means designing KM around actual human behavior, not systems or jargon. Three principles matter most.
1. Make the Experience Instantly Understandable
Interfaces should be clean, consistent, and quiet. Labels, tags, and taxonomies must reflect the language users actually use, not internal terminology. A practitioner should know where to click and how to search without training.Search must align with natural behavior: short, conversational queries with clear, relevant results. Whether through “Google-style” search, guided navigation, or intuitive chat interfaces, discovery should require as little interpretation as possible.
2. Keep KM in the Path of Least Resistance
Tools must meet people where they are: inside the DMS, matter workflows, drafting tools, and core collaboration platforms. If using KM requires changing systems, remembering separate URLs or passwords, or navigating unfamiliar pages, usage drops sharply.Content should be structured for fast consumption—concise checklists, decision trees, short FAQs, and formats designed to deliver an answer within a minute. The objective is to reduce the effort between question and answer, not expand it.
3. Continuously Remove Friction
Ease of use is not a launch requirement but an ongoing service. Single sign-on, predictable starting points, and a small number of well-labeled entry paths do more for adoption than any new feature. Observing real users, reviewing search logs, and responding to feedback reveal where friction accumulates. A simple, reliable system that evolves with evidence delivers far more value than a complex design that remains static.
Practical Ways to Optimize Ease of Use
Practical improvements rarely require a full rebuild. They start with focused changes.
- Fix the first screen. Rework the main KM landing page. Add a prominent search box. Include a small set of clearly labeled buttons for the most-used resources or tasks. Make it obvious what the page is for and how it helps.
- Create one front door for core tasks. You may not be able to consolidate every system, but you can consolidate access. Configure an enterprise search or curated hub so practitioners have one dependable starting point when they need to find something.
- Redesign a few high-impact journeys. Working with end users, identify a handful of common scenarios—such as finding a starting precedent, onboarding to a new area, or answering a recurring client question. Remove steps, shorten content, and tighten navigation for those critical journeys.
- Integrate in small but visible ways. Add KM links to templates, matter opening and closing forms, onboarding materials, and training sessions. The goal is not to discuss KM but to place it exactly where it will be used.
Each of these interventions is modest on its own. Together, they positively change how it feels to use the system.
Why It Matters
Ease of use pays off in ways that matter to the firm, not just to the KM team. The less time people spend hunting for information, the more time they can spend on chargeable or strategic work. Reducing search and rework directly improves leverage and profitability.
Ease also strengthens consistency and quality. When it is easy to find the right materials, practitioners are more likely to begin with vetted precedents and guidance. This reduces variation and lowers the risk of avoidable error.
A reliable experience builds trust. When people know “if I look there, I will find what I need,” adoption becomes self-sustaining. KM stops being a campaign and becomes part of the firm’s infrastructure.
Finally, ease of use is foundational for AI readiness. Search and GenAI tools sit on top of existing content and structures. If the surrounding experience is confusing or clumsy, even advanced capabilities will not reach their potential. Optimizing for ease of use ensures that investment in KM is visible in day-to-day practice.
What’s Next in the LEXICON Series?
Once KM feels straightforward to use, the priority shifts to keeping it aligned with changing needs. Systems, practices, and expectations will evolve; KM has to evolve with them.
In the LEXICON sequence, this brings us to N – Nurture Engagement and Feedback Loops: building simple, reliable mechanisms for listening, measuring, and adjusting so your KM environment stays responsive and your users stay engaged. Please watch for the next post in this series to learn how that’s done.
0 Comments