Case study
Typeset Collaboration
Bringing permissions, suggestions, and comments into research writing
SciSpace (formerly Typeset) ↗Choose your depth
The problem, my contribution, outcomes, and strongest screens.
My role
Product design · Research · Collaborative editing
Product focus
Permissions, suggestions, and comments embedded in scientific writing.
Overview
I designed Typeset’s collaborative editing workflow so researchers, students, professors, and reviewers could work on the same manuscript without leaving the editor. During this period, the broader platform grew from 800 to more than 3,000 colleges and served over 150,000 users.
The problem
Research papers involve mentorship, distributed authorship, confidential work, and dense feedback. Typeset needed to support viewing, suggesting, editing, and commenting while making ownership clear and protecting the manuscript from unintended changes.
What I drove
- Ran focus groups with students, professors, and library administrators to understand how research feedback moved between people and tools.
- Designed the permission model across owners, editors, suggesters, and view-only collaborators.
- Connected access requests and approvals to the live editing context instead of sending users into a separate administrative flow.
What changed
- Kept manuscript access and review attached to the writing context instead of a separate admin surface.
- Contributed during a period when the broader platform grew from 800 to 3,000+ colleges and served 150,000+ users.
Impact
What the work was designed to move
Business impact
Brought permissions, suggestions, comments, and approvals into one research-writing workflow.
Customer impact
Researchers can collaborate without moving feedback away from the manuscript context it belongs to.
Revenue impact
Increases institutional product value and retention by supporting the multi-person workflows behind academic writing.
Highlights evidence
4 essential screens from the final experience.
Continue reading