They were about to build a self-service app. Our workshops showed them they needed something completely different.
Discovery & UX Design
They came in wanting to build a self-service portal. Two workshops later, the entire product direction changed. That pivot saved them months of building the wrong thing.
From wrong product to right product. Then designed the UX to match.
AntragPlus had a vision for a self-service tool. Through workshops and customer journey mapping, we discovered their actual need was an internal tool for their grant writing team.
Building toward a product that didn't match how the business actually works.
AntragPlus wanted a self-service portal for NGOs. Problem: their team writes the applications, not the NGOs. Building self-service meant months of work on a product their operations couldn't support.
The planned product didn't match the actual business model. Self-service sounds right until you map the customer journey.
The grant writing team was working across ChatGPT, scattered project files, and manual processes. No single tool for their core workflow.
Multiple stakeholders with different assumptions about what the product should do. No shared understanding of the end user.
Workshops first. Then design what they actually need.
We didn't start with wireframes. We started with their operations. Customer journey mapping, stakeholder workshops, process documentation. The product concept came from understanding how their team actually works, not from a feature wishlist.
Customer journey mapping
Mapped how grant applications actually move through AntragPlus. From intake to research to drafting to NGO delivery. The self-service assumption broke down at step two.
The pivot
Self-service out. Internal tool in. The application writing team became the primary user. Templates, custom AI commands, research workflows, and a direct channel to NGOs. One environment instead of five disconnected tools.
Right product. Right users. Built to match how the business actually runs.
Product-market fit before a line of code
The pivot from self-service to internal tool meant the product matched actual operations from day one. No post-launch discovery that the core assumption was wrong.
One tool replaces five
The grant writing team moved from ChatGPT, scattered files, and manual handoffs to a single purpose-built environment. Research, drafting, templates, and NGO communication in one place.
Team using it on day one
Sunday night after launch, the team maxed out their API tokens. Not a stress test. Just the team doing real work in the tool they helped shape.
Evaluating vendors for your next initiative? We'll prototype it while you decide.
Your shortlist sends proposals. We send a working prototype. You decide who gets the contract.
