A Unified Microsoft Office Add-In Built to Streamline Document and Matter Management

We developed Rizeware Addins, a powerful add-in for Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that enables professionals to manage documents, search files, and organize matters without leaving the Microsoft Office environment.

industry

Startups

Services

Add-in Development, Microsoft Office Integration, UI Engineering, Workflow Optimization

Introduction

The client needed a single, cohesive solution to manage documents and matter-related information directly inside Microsoft Office products. Their teams worked across Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, but document handling required switching to external tools, causing inefficiencies and workflow gaps.

They wanted an add-in that allowed users to:

Organize files without leaving Office apps
Access and manage matter-specific documents
Search and filter content instantly
Maintain consistency across all Office tools

The goal was simple: bring document management into the user’s daily workspace, the Office itself.

The Challenge

Building an add-in compatible across four major Office products came with several complexities:

1. Fragmented Requirements & Evolving Scope

The client’s vision evolved continuously, and initial specifications lacked clarity.
To overcome this, we applied a structured discovery approach — asking targeted questions, validating assumptions, and proposing flows that helped shape the final product direction.

2. Multi-App Consistency Across Outlook, Word, Excel & PowerPoint

Each Microsoft Office product behaves differently in terms of:

UI rendering
Permissions
Add-in runtime capabilities
API availability

We had to architect a solution that maintained uniform behavior, regardless of the host application.

3. Efficient Document & Matter Retrieval

Users expected lightning-fast search and filtering. We optimized API queries, standardized metadata mapping, and ensured the add-in handled a variety of file types smoothly.

4. Managing Productivity Without Breaking Native Office Workflow

The add-in needed to feel native, not intrusive. We designed interactions that complemented Microsoft’s UI patterns, ensuring a minimal learning curve.

Our Approach

We built a unified, cross-application Office add-in powered by React and .NET, delivering:

Seamless Multi-App Integration

One codebase working flawlessly across Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Advanced File & Matter Management

Search, organize, and link documents directly from the sidebar panel.

Optimized User Productivity

All essential actions are available inside the application, where work is already happening.

Modular Architecture

Easy future expansion without disrupting current workflows.

Build productivity tools where your users already work.

Whether it’s Office Add-ins, workflow automation, or enterprise extensions, 7Span helps you create seamless digital experiences that enhance efficiency and adoption.