User Research

Power of User Research

New Category View

Project Achievements

  • 60% Adoption Rate in the first 4 months

  • Reduce ordering time by 40%

  • Customers expanded use of cloud services and cloud providers

  • Implemented a modern front-end framework

  • 20% of orders using new reorders feature

My Role

  • Design Lead

  • Product Manager

  • Engineering Manager

  • User Researcher

 

 
 

Original Request

The company requested that I update the application's user interface to modernize its appearance, following customer complaints that the design felt outdated.

 

What is CMP?

CMP is a single pane of glass application that empowers development teams to efficiently manage cloud development services, enabling them to swiftly order, modify, and delete these services.

 
 
 

 

Current UI

 
 

Research

Prior to initiating a visual upgrade of the site, I seized the chance to engage directly with clients to understand their application usage and needs. This approach allowed me to uncover ways to address their problems, rather than solely concentrating on the visual aspects.

 
 

Internal Data

  • Customers only used 1/3 of the clouds available

  • VM’s still the majority of the orders

  • Not a lot of clients upgrade to the latest software

  • Customers are using private and public data centers

Heuristic Evaluation

  • Not focused on outcomes

  • Older UI components

  • Confusing lexicon

  • Very limited reporting

  • No real user flows

Internal Feedback

  • Improve the colors

  • Improve reporting

  • More icons

  • Side navigation

Customer Interviews

  • I strive to deliver an exceptional experience for my users

  • I can’t show my boss the value of the tool

  • I don’t know what my users are doing in the platform

  • I need developers to be able to order cloud services not just VM’s

 

 

Project Outline

 
 

Challenges

  • Admin focuses app

  • No front-end framework

  • Limited data

  • Slow releases

  • No API’s

  • No front-end experience

 

Objectives

  • Self-Service focused

  • Front-end framework

  • Gather metrics

  • Build Dedicated team

 

My Role

  • Design Lead

  • Product Manager

  • Engineering Manager

  • User Researcher

 

 

Competitor Analysis

 

High-Quality Product Images
Utilizing photographs and vibrant colors can make a page more engaging.
Modern Filter Design
Traditional filters on the left can appear cluttered and outdated. Implementing modern filters helps to streamline the space.
Prominent Search Box
The search box is designed to be noticeable and easily accessible.
Category-Based Browsing
Users begin their browsing experience by navigating through clearly defined categories or departments.

 
 

 

Who will be using it?

“I need to quickly order resources for the project I’m working on right now”

Developer Flow

 



Developer Needs

  • Order Resources

  • Edit Resources

  • Access Resources

  • Teardown Resources

 
 

 

Design Iterations

 

The first iteration aimed to identify the quickest enhancements for the catalog view. Although this view was improved, the feedback indicated that it still didn't effectively guide users to what they needed.

 
 
 

I returned to the drawing board to design flush out the category view and determine the placement of other UI elements on the page.

 
 
 

How will the filters and search work?

 
 
 

Aligning with the grid

 
 

 

Final Category View

Old Category View

New Category View

 

New Category View


  • Customizable icons to help represent the project or department

  • Colors can help color coding projects and departments

  • Simplified view to help focus users on the categories

 
 

Final Blueprint View

Old Blueprint View

New Blueprint View

 

New Blueprint View


  • Simplified filtering: Combined filter options into one button for a cleaner interface.

  • Focused features: Removed admin reporting to streamline core functionality.

  • Default dark mode: Enabled dark mode by default for a modern look similar to other dev tools

 
 

Reorder Option

Old Order View

New Order View

 

Based on feedback from our customers that many of their users frequently reorder the same service configurations, we have added a step to the ordering process that retrieves previously ordered configurations, streamlining and simplifying the ordering experience.

 
 

Resource Management

Old Resource Management View

New Resource Management View

 

Based on feedback from the admin users, I changed the layout from a tab view to a panel dashboard view, enabling users to easily locate all the settings. This new layout provides admins with the flexibility to display the relevant data their users need daily and offers a way to access additional information if required.

 
 

Admin Dashboard

 
 
 

Previously, our admin users lacked visibility into the performance of their 'storefront.' We have now equipped them with a dashboard that provides insights into the popularity of their products (services), identifying the best-selling items, the stagnant ones, the error-prone offerings, and tracking customer traffic.

 
 
 

Project Achievements

  • 60% Adoption Rate in the first 4 months

  • Reduce ordering time by 40%

  • Customers expanded use of cloud services and cloud providers

  • Implemented a modern front-end framework

  • 20% of orders using new reorders feature