Providing system monitoring at a glance
Company:
Ridge
Domain:
DevOps Platform, IaaS
Year:
2023
MY ROLE
I led the design process as the only product designer at the company.
Collaborated closely with the product manager and two front-end developers.
Initiated and conducted UX research with independent DevOps engineers.
CHALLENGE
WHAT IS THE PRODUCT?
Ridge is a platform tailored for DevOps engineers, helping deploy applications in the cloud and making them cloud-native, offering services similar to AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
PROBLEM
When I joined Ridge, the platform was already functional but lacked a critical feature: a central dashboard where users could view all their resources. Also, the customer success and sales managers informed us that DevOps engineers were requesting a system dashboard.
MARKET SITUATION
Having a system dashboard is now the industry standard for technical platforms.
USER GOALS
System monitoring at a glance.
Quick onboarding.
BUSINESS GOALS
Improve user satisfaction.
Increase user awareness of available resources on the platform.
Reduce onboarding time for customer success managers.
RESULT IMPACT
HOW WE RATED IT
By the time of deployment of the final design, we were fortunate to have some customers available to provide feedback on the dashboard. Additionally, I asked the sales manager to gather insights on how potential customers responded to the dashboard during demonstrations.
FOR USERS
Provided system monitoring at a glance.
Frank B.
Major French system integrator
Client
❝The dashboard provides a quick and convenient view of all our system entities, even with their varying states. It simplifies monitoring and makes managing complex deployments much more efficient.❞
Alona K.
Israeli service company
Client
❝The Ridge dashboard has made cloud management much easier for our team. The intuitive layout saves us time and keeps us on top of system performance without the hassle. It’s been a valuable tool for streamlining our operations.❞
Faster onboarding.
FOR BUSINESS
15% reduction in onboarding time for customer success manager.
20% increase in the average number of types of resources used.
Improved user satisfaction.
In addition to the dashboard, we redesigned the entire platform during the process, resulting in positive user feedback. This enhanced overall user satisfaction.
Founded UX-research with DevOps engineers.
PROCESS
METHOD
I followed an iterative design approach, ensuring that each phase was informed by user feedback.
CONSTRAINTS
Since we were creating the first dashboard in the system, I proposed to make it like an MVP. So I should have utilized the existing styles and interaction patterns. And then, based on real feedback, iterate on it.
THE FIRST DESIGN
As a result, I gave birth to this design:
FEEDBACK
Before implementation, I tested the design with our R&D team, as we didn’t have any suitable clients available for testing at the time. Setting up user testing on the independent respondents was a separate big task, and I completed it later.
We implemented and deployed this design. Then sales manager gave me feedback that the dashboard was not very convenient - it didn’t allow one to perceive the state of his system at a glance. Meanwhile, this was the main goal when we were creating the dashboard.
ITERATING
I gathered detailed feedback on what prospects were saying and doing, and I actively used the dashboard in my work to find friction points. I identified the issues within the dashboard and recognized the need for new design patterns to improve the results.
I discussed these points with our front-end team and the product manager, and we decided to create a new version of the dashboard giving ourself the opportunity to create new patterns and styles.
During that period, I step by step redesigned the entire platform. And it was a convenient moment for this change.
FEEDBACK AGAIN
This was a major change in the product’s appearance, and I aimed to test it with independent DevOps engineers, as we didn’t yet have clients to provide feedback. Initially, I reached out to engineers on LinkedIn and made several mistakes, which I later learned from and adjusted accordingly.
I conducted 6 in-depth interviews with independent DevOps engineers (it was the first qualitative testing of the product) and this feedback helped me significantly improve the result.
FINAL DESIGN
We pursued the goals:
FOR USERS
View system monitoring and resources at a glance.
FOR BUSINESS
Increase user awareness of available resources on the platform.
Unfortunately, the startup closed, bringing our journey to an end.
LEARNINGS
I was pleasantly surprised to find that reaching out to unfamiliar DevOps engineers on LinkedIn for product testing resulted in positive responses, allowing me to conduct in-depth interviews. 🤗 However, I learned that publishing a testing request in active communities is a much more effective approach. 🚀
