Client Portal: Meeting Notes

v1
20d ago · 2.7 KB · 2 min read · by Tom Vance

Client Portal: Meeting Notes v1

Client Portal: Meeting Notes

Kickoff Meeting (Week 1)

Attendees: TomlTech (2 developers, 1 PM), Client (3 partners, 1 paralegal, 1 IT person)

Key Outcomes:

  • Client showed us their current workflow: documents are emailed as attachments, printed, signed, scanned, emailed back, saved to the shared folder, and then printed again "for the file"
  • We suggested that the portal could eliminate approximately 6 of these 8 steps
  • The senior partner asked "but where does the paper go?"
  • We explained that there would be no paper
  • The senior partner did not like this
  • Compromise: the portal will have a "Print" button on every page

Action items:

  • Send wireframes (TomlTech)
  • Send current document list to understand volume (Client, received: 47,000 documents in a zip file with no folder structure)
  • Resolve the fax question

Design Review (Week 3)

Attendees: TomlTech (1 developer, 1 designer, 1 PM), Client (2 partners, 1 paralegal)

Key Outcomes:

  • Presented wireframes. Client liked the overall layout.
  • Client asked why it doesn't look like the Apple website. We explained again that it is a document portal, not a product showcase.
  • Client asked if we could make the login page "more welcoming." We added a stock photo of people shaking hands. Client approved.
  • The paralegal asked if the search function could search inside PDFs. We said yes. The paralegal was visibly relieved. This suggests the current "search" method is manual.
  • One partner asked if clients could edit documents in the portal. We said no, it's a document portal, not a document editor. The partner said "Word has that." We said this is not Word. The partner said "can you make it more like Word?" We said no.

Action items:

  • Revise wireframes with stock photo
  • Send revised quote including PDF search
  • Research fax APIs (reluctantly)

The Fax Meeting (Week 5)

Attendees: TomlTech (1 developer), Client (1 partner, 1 IT person)

Key Outcomes:

  • Dedicated meeting to resolve the fax requirement
  • Client sends approximately 200 faxes per month
  • Client receives approximately 15 faxes per month
  • All received faxes are from one company, which also has email
  • Asked client why they don't email the 200 outgoing faxes instead
  • Client: "The courts require fax"
  • Checked with 3 courts. None require fax. All accept electronic filing.
  • Client: "We've always done it this way"
  • Agreed to integrate with an eFax API so faxes can be sent from the portal
  • Developer has mild existential crisis about building fax features in 2026

Action items:

  • Research eFax API pricing
  • Add fax to the project scope
  • Add fax to the project budget
  • Add fax to the list of things we never thought we'd build