Design client-operated work
Client self-service portals: choose the work clients can do for themselves
A client self-service portal gives clients access to information or work they can complete without asking your team to perform every step. It might show a report, collect an approved request or help prepare a brief. Choose one recurring client job and agree which decisions still need an expert before building the portal.
Design the complete client job, including context, approval and help; portal access alone does not establish a useful service.
Choose the job the client wants to complete
Begin with a recent request, rather than a list of portal features. What did the client need, which information did they supply and where did they wait for your team? Ask whether doing part of that work themselves would actually be convenient.
| Client job | Useful portal result | Decision still needed |
|---|---|---|
| Find information | A current report, agreement or source with access controls. | Who owns and updates that information? |
| Submit a request | A complete request routed to the right person. | Who clarifies unusual scope? |
| Prepare work | A brief or draft using approved client context. | Who checks claims and accepts the result? |
| Make an authorised choice | An agreed action with a reviewable record. | Which choices may the client make without expert approval? |
Each type has different support and information needs. A report library can be useful on its own. A system that prepares content also needs current context, clear limitations and a review route.
A proposed opportunity for content businesses
Said points to content services for executives and companies, where the client’s changing wishes can stretch the original offer. A firm may already hold useful context about the client’s business and competitors.
He sees an opportunity to offer former clients a smaller ongoing arrangement that lets them use a system built around that context. He also likes the idea some describe as “software as canvas”: the shared system has to accommodate different clients rather than assume identical needs.
That is a commercial opportunity, not a measured result. Customer use, willingness to pay and the amount of expert support remain questions to test. The sample journey below shows one way to make those questions concrete.
Map the journey and who makes each decision
Client
Choose the job
State the objective, audience and intended output.
System
Load approved context
Retrieve this client’s authorised information and flag old or missing records.
Client and system
Prepare a brief
Use the shared method while preserving the client’s requirements.
Service expert
Check expert decisions
Review claims or judgement agreed as part of the service.
Client approver
Accept and record
Accept the result; approved decisions update the context.
This journey is invented. It is not evidence that the proposed product has launched or customers have bought it.
Make help available where someone encounters a gap. If the portal says a source is missing, tell the user which role can resolve it and what happens to the job meanwhile. A new support inbox filled with half-finished requests may simply move the existing work.
Keep access client-specific through search, generated output and saved files. Explain the status of a draft and the approval needed before using it externally. The user needs to know what they can do next.
Test one complete journey before expanding
Invite a small group to complete the recurring job with approved information. Observe where they need help, whether the result is accepted and whether they return when the need recurs. Ask about payment through a concrete proposed offer once the job is understood.
Include information upkeep, onboarding, expert review and support in the delivery effort. Compare that effort with the actual arrangement clients accept. A smaller retainer is useful only if the service remains valuable to them and workable for the firm.
Write down the client journey
Worked example
A proposed content-brief service
Invented teaching example. No client outcome is claimed.
JOB
A former content client prepares a recurring brief using approved business and competitor context.
ROLES
The client chooses the objective. The system prepares a brief. An expert checks agreed judgement and claims.
EXCEPTION
Old context is flagged and sent to its owner before the affected claim is used.
TEST
Observe a completed job, whether the client returns and what support it needs.
COMMERCIAL LIMIT
No uptake, payment or revenue outcome is established.
Further reading
Written by Said Lopez, founder of LeverageAI and author of Lean AI. Our guides draw on the method in the book and our work with clients.