Doorman

This project focuses on revamping preezie's Content Management System (CMS) with the new platform, Doorman. By establishing a solid foundation for future growth, we aim to enhance user experience meaningfully. With a focus on scalability, optimized features, and robust security, Doorman is built to adapt to our users' evolving needs. As we rebuild our CMS, preezie is committed to fostering innovation and maintaining a competitive edge in the dynamic SaaS landscape. This strategic investment reflects our dedication to quality and customer-centricity.

preezie's existing Content Management System (CMS) is not sufficiently robust, user-friendly, or scalable to support preezie's growing solutions within the SaaS market. Users face challenges with inefficient journey management, convoluted onboarding processes, and limited reporting capabilities, all of which diminish their experience and hinder the effective demonstration of the solutions. Additionally, the system's advanced styling configurations complicate the delivery of a seamless user journey. The Doorman project aims to develop a comprehensive, intuitive, and flexible CMS that enhances user engagement, reduces reliance on customer support, and supports international expansion.

We adopted a phased approach, initially introducing Doorman alongside our CMS v1 platform. After doing a deepdive into the stability of CMS v1 we concluded that building Doorman from the ground up was the best course of action—an ambitious task, but one that promised long-term benefits. With a clear understanding of preezie's brand guidelines I was able to create an interim 'skin' for CMS v1 more aligned to Doormans desired outcome as means to familiarise our customers with what is to come. Utilising Google Tag Manager (GTM) allowed for one of our front-enders to swiftly implement the interface without requiring significant code changes. Our process was highly collaborative, involving close cooperation between the Product, Tech, Customer Success, Sales, and our current customers. Through extensive mapping, defining the elements we could reuse versus needing to rebuild, prototyping, and iterative development, we refined every aspect—from security and architecture to design and behaviour—until we achieved the optimal solution.

The implementation of the Doorman project involved a phased approach to ensure a seamless transition for preezie's customers, integrating new styling components while maintaining CMS v1 functionality through iframing. As a company with multiple solutions, we strategically introduced customers to the platform in stages, beginning with nextbuy as our initial launch within Doorman. This lighter, self-contained solution served as a testing ground for new features and optimisations. To enhance user experience, I designed a dynamic homepage directory that centralised user access and enabled seamless navigation across preezie’s various solutions. By understanding user behaviour, I paid close attention to the users' journeys and objectives, restructuring the navigation of Journeys using a modular system to create an effective and intuitive solution. Key user-centric features, such as the nextbuy dashboard and upgraded importer, were integrated to enhance usability and support the goal of empowering users with self-service capabilities.

Our design principles served as our compass. By establishing a cohesive look and feel through a tailored component library integrated across Figma and Storybook, we maintain brand consistency while enhancing developer productivity with modular, reusable components. This integration fosters collaboration between design and development teams, ensuring alignment and clarity throughout the project. The design is built to scale and expand internationally, focusing on empowering users to manage features independently while fostering proactive engagement. We continually optimise based on real-world feedback, ensuring the CMS is prepared for long-term growth and success.

The Doorman project presented the dual challenge of building a new platform while simultaneously managing the legacy CMS v1 and developing new features. The team had to navigate the complexities of transitioning from familiar systems to a new way of working, pushing the Customer Success team out of their comfort zone to adapt to the updated system. To ensure a smooth migration and minimise disruption, a strategic phased integration approach was employed. By prioritising effectively, the team utilised the MoSCoW method to categorise new or reused features into must-have, should-have, could-have, and won’t-have, focusing on critical enhancements while managing resource constraints. This approach not only facilitated the development of a robust, user-friendly platform but also streamlined the transition for both users and internal teams.

The implementation of new features through Doorman has proven highly effective for our development team. Its modular and structured approach has clarified component usage and streamlined the development process, significantly reducing ambiguity and enhancing productivity. This improvement has enabled faster and more precise feature deployment, which is crucial in a fast-paced startup environment. The phased integration and prioritisation methods have balanced the introduction of new features with the management of CMS v1, ensuring a smooth transition and minimal disruptions. Positive feedback from our Customer Success team and users confirms that Doorman has enhanced their services and optimisations, highlighting its impact and effectiveness.

While the initial launch of Doorman marked a significant milestone, the project continues to evolve. The dynamic nature of startup environments leads to shifting priorities and emerging requirements. As a result, although Doorman has already achieved notable success, it remains a work in progress. We are committed to continually evolving and refining the platform to ensure it aligns with our expanding needs and objectives.

In conclusion, the Doorman project represents a pivotal advancement for preezie, successfully addressing the challenges of transitioning to a new CMS while managing legacy systems. Through a user-centric design and strategic phased integration, we have enhanced productivity, streamlined processes, and fostered collaboration between teams. The positive feedback from our Customer Success team and users underscores the effectiveness of Doorman in improving service delivery and optimising features. As we continue to refine and expand the platform, we remain committed to meeting the evolving needs of our users and positioning preezie for sustained growth in a competitive landscape.