As our legal landscape evolves, having an innovative approach to problem-solving is becoming increasingly important. Malin Mannikko, a Legal Tech Associate at DLA Piper Sweden, recently shared her insights on a Platforum9 Session on what is Legal Design, why it matters and how it’s transforming the way legal services are being delivered.
What is Legal Design?
Legal design is essentially the application of design thinking principles to the legal industry. “Legal design is basically the terminology that we tend to use in the legal industry for what is commonly known as design thinking,” explains Mannikko. At its core, it’s a methodology and set of tools that puts the user at the center of the process.
This user-centric approach ensures that any project or solution addresses the actual problems faced by the intended audience. Rather than making assumptions about what clients or users need, legal design requires a deep understanding of their challenges and experiences.
Beyond Visualisation
While many people associate legal design primarily with visualising legal information (such as redesigned privacy policies or terms of service with illustrations), Mannikko emphasises that it encompasses much more.
“There’s this whole sub-genre in design, legal design, that is visualisation,” she notes. “But I work a lot with legal tech and product and with innovation and adaption schemes in law firms and there it’s more important for me to do these deep interviews with users, understanding problems, being able to articulate it to anyone who is doing product enhancements.”
The Process: Loving the Problem
One of the most counterintuitive aspects of legal design thinking is the emphasis on thoroughly understanding the problem before rushing to solutions. Mannikko stresses that lawyers, who are naturally solution-oriented, often jump to conclusions too quickly.
The legal design process typically breaks down into three main phases:
- Understand (approximately two-thirds of the total time)
- Create
- Implement
“We spend about two-thirds of the time on ‘understanding’ alone,” says Mannikko. “We really dig through and reiterate and rephrase and validate the problems that we’re finding, the pain points and the frustrations and all of that so that we actually know what we’re looking at, and only then do we go into ideation.”
This deliberate approach ensures that teams address root causes rather than symptoms, avoiding quick “band-aid” solutions that don’t resolve underlying issues.
Facilitating Meaningful Conversations
The role of a facilitator is crucial in legal design workshops. Mannikko describes her role not as contributing ideas but as keeping discussions on track and creating an environment where everyone can contribute.
“I’m the facilitator. I have the facilitator role. I’m just making sure that this train stays on its track,” she explains. “My role isn’t to pitch in with ideas or thoughts of my own.”
An effective facilitator helps shift conversations away from blame and toward collaborative problem-solving. They ensure that the process feels like a dialogue rather than a monologue by creating the right physical environment—preferably with participants standing, moving freely, and using whiteboards and post-it notes rather than sitting around a table.
The Technology Question
Despite working in legal tech, Mannikko emphasises that technology isn’t always the answer to legal problems. “Sometimes these problems aren’t going to be solved by technology at all,” she notes.
Often, the issues are more about processes, communication, or other human factors. This realisation is particularly important in the current era, where there’s considerable pressure to implement AI and other technologies in legal practice.
As Mannikko puts it, “When we are incorporating more and more AI-driven tools in our toolbox at law firms… we could end up in a situation where we’re creating more problems and then solving them with AI, but we didn’t have to create the problem in the first place.”
Overcoming Resistance
Legal design thinking can face resistance in traditional legal settings, particularly from those who see terms like “design” as too “fluffy” or non-legal. Mannikko offers practical advice for introducing these concepts in more conservative environments.
“What I’ve found in a more conservative setting, what helps is to not call it legal design,” she suggests. Instead, use concrete terms that resonate with the audience, such as “optimisation dialogue” rather than “design thinking workshop.”
This approach embodies the principles of design thinking itself—tailoring communication to the audience to improve buy-in.
Benefits for Legal Teams
The benefits of incorporating legal design thinking extend beyond just better solutions. The process itself can be transformative for legal teams facing pressure from both internal and external sources.
By bringing diverse perspectives together and creating space for respectful listening and collaborative problem-solving, legal design workshops can help address intergenerational challenges, differing expectations, and the evolving roles within legal organisations.
Looking Forward
As the legal profession continues to evolve, legal design offers a structured approach to navigating change while keeping the focus on what matters most—addressing the real needs of clients and legal professionals.
“I think we’re at the beginning here as we look to solve problems,” Mannikko concludes. “It presents an opportunity to evaluate what we do, why it matters, why we matter as individuals within that system, and to look at ways in which we can do it better.”
By embracing legal design principles, legal professionals can ensure they’re solving the right problems in the right ways, creating more effective and user-friendly legal services for the future.
