Complete UX design for a multi-stakeholder grant writing platform

Designing Grantwiser's collaborative platform in 4 weeks

How we created user flows, AI integration, and a design system for a platform that manages complex stakeholder permissions and streamlines grant proposal writing.

TIMELINE

4 weeks

Challenge

A grant proposal platform needed complete UX design for multiple stakeholder types with differential access, AI integration, and interfaces optimized for heavy text work.

Impact

Development-ready designs delivered
Multi-stakeholder flows with differential access resolved
AI integration designed throughout workflow
Complete design system established

The Opportunity

Grantwiser helps innovators secure grant funding to commercialize breakthrough technologies. After 20+ years of consulting expertise, they were productizing their process into a collaborative platform for grant proposal writing.

With the development team ready and market pressure from emerging AI grant tools, they needed production-ready designs in 4 weeks. They needed a design partner who could:

Map complete user flows for multiple stakeholder types
Design differential access management with edit and view permissions
Integrate AI touchpoints throughout the writing workflow
Create interfaces optimized for long-form text work
Deliver a complete design system for development handoff

Without it, the development team couldn't move forward and the market window would narrow.

The Impact

The design work gave Grantwiser a complete, development-ready platform design their team could build immediately.

Multi-stakeholder collaboration designed:
User flows now handle Proposal Managers, Lead Writers, Subject Matter Experts, and Reviewers with appropriate access levels for each role.
Differential access resolved:
Subject matter experts edit their sections while viewing previous sections for context. Information flows on a need-to-know basis.
AI integration throughout:
AI processes requirement documents, generates questionnaires, creates first drafts, and assists during editing. Users no longer need to constantly reference requirements.
Design system delivered:
Full component library, typography, and color system ready for development. The team builds with consistency from day one.

"They immediately understood the concept and the business that we're building and incorporated not only our vision, but also had some proactive ideas for how they could improve on the user flow and functionality."

Christopher Allen

Founder, Grantwiser

Scope

Product design

UX design

Tools

HOW WE DELIVERED

We built a complete design system for a complex collaborative platform with multiple user types and AI integration.

Feature mapping:
We documented all required features across stakeholder types and identified where AI integration would add value. This became the foundation for all design decisions.
User flow development:
We created flows for two primary categories: full-access users and role-restricted users. We mapped intersections between stakeholder types to ensure seamless handoffs.
High-fidelity wireframes:
We worked directly in high-fidelity with actual content. One login screen became eight screens showing all states and variations for different user roles.
Design system and handoff:
We established the complete design system before final designs to ensure consistency. Then created high-fidelity designs for all stakeholder types and access levels, ready for development.