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The project centered on enhancing the user experience of an IBM Maximo platform application, with a strong emphasis on seamlessly integrating automation into cloud computing workflows. Tailored to meet the precise data management and operational needs of global data center technicians and managers, this initiative was designed for an American multinational tech company headquartered in Mountain View, CA.
Team: UX | Interaction Designer (x2)
My role: UX | Interaction designer.
Dates: Nov 2021 - May 2024
In my role as the UX & Interaction Designer, I led the initiative to refine the platform's user experience. My responsibilities included providing architectural design services, conducting UX studies, performing data analysis, and enhancing user interactions to ensure the seamless integration of automation for improved usability and efficiency. I worked closely with stakeholders to identify and address key challenges, developing responsive, human-centered applications that aligned with both business objectives and technical requirements. Additionally, I collaborated with the development team to support global product launches, ensuring the platform was optimized and met the required specifications.
The biggest challenge of the project was navigating intricate processes that required a flexible approach and adaptability throughout all phases. Balancing the complexity of user requirements—or even handling missing requirements—alongside evolving technical constraints demanded a solution that could seamlessly adjust while maintaining an engaging, user-centered experience.
The project began with interviews of both stakeholders and users to gain a clearer understanding of the user personas and business objectives, as we did not have access to the formal business requirements at that stage. This approach allowed us to align early on with the needs and goals of both the users and the organization, ensuring the design process was grounded in real-world insights despite the initial lack of detailed specifications.
Once I gathered all these insights, I gained a deep understanding of the "whys" and "hows" behind the users' tasks within the data centers. This allowed me to see not only what they were doing but also the reasons and motivations driving their actions, enabling a more informed and empathetic approach to establishing user personas and design requirements, while aligning with the weekly instructions from the stakeholder to ensure we delivered throughout the project.
Early in the project, proposals were required as part of the goals report to document client achievements and ensure that results and progress aligned with the business team's objectives. In response, I started developing low-fidelity proposals and user flows for the tool's primary actions. By analyzing the user journey and the tasks involved, I was able to establish the initial approach to the feature.
After finalizing the initial proposals for the user flows, we conducted user testing to ensure our approach effectively met the needs of the technicians, who are the primary users. Based on the feedback received, the stakeholder and I reviewed the results and identified opportunities to enhance and refine the solution. I then incorporated these insights into design proposals, improving the solution to better address user needs and optimize the overall experience.
Once we developed the initial approach to the feature and user flows, we gained access to the business and technical requirements. Given the unique nature of the project, I revisited the discovery process to thoroughly analyze these requirements. This ensured that nothing was overlooked and that all necessary aspects were incorporated into the platform's features and design proposals.With a deeper understanding of the tools, I was able to question some of the requirements and provided valuable feedback to the stakeholders about missing technical considerations. My insights, based on user interactions with the platform, helped refine the technical requirements documentation, ensuring it aligned more effectively with real-world user needs.
At this stage of the project, I began developing high-fidelity components for both desktop and mobile views. A significant challenge we faced was the absence of a Design System, with assets scattered across Figma files and lacking centralization. To address this, my colleague and I decided to create an ongoing design system as we progressed. Whenever we received a request related to an existing feature, we developed new components in line with the latest updates and integrated them into the design system, bringing coherence and structure to the overall design process.
At this stage of the project, we visited the site to shadow users in their daily routines, gaining a deeper understanding of the type of work and challenges they regularly face within their specific contexts and tasks. This hands-on observation allowed us to see how they interact with the platform in real time. Following this, we conducted interviews to explore their responsibilities, personal workflows, and daily tasks, providing a more comprehensive perspective by combining firsthand observation with user insights.
Once we had finalized all the user flows for both desktop and mobile, we began collaborating closely with the development team. We handed off all component specifications for the new features and ensured alignment across both design and development teams. During this process, we addressed feedback regarding technical restrictions from the development side, refining the user experience and interactions to ensure the final implementation met both technical and user needs. This collaborative effort culminated in the successful global launch across all data centers of the multinational company.
Prioritize: Create a strategic plan to launch an MVP. This helps deal with out-of-scope requests that could potentially derail the project and helps deliver a quality product in time.
Seek out feedback early and continually: Keeping the stakeholders/users in loop and testing solutions in whatever form (paper, low-fi or hi-fi) as early as possible saves ample amount of time and re-work.
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