Client
Year
Resources
- Figma
- Axure RP
- Adobe CC
- MS Office
Cross Functional Team
- Product Management
- Release Managers
- UX Team
- Engineers (FW + SW)
- IE Team
- QA Team
Deliverables
- Prototypes & Wireframes
- UX Documentation
- Usability Studies
- User Research
- Accessibility Certifications
- Illustrations/Icons
Powerful Software for Proven Storage Systems.
Manage your NetApp E-Series system—anytime, anywhere—with an on-box, web-based interface.
E-Series storage arrays are valued because of the simplicity and reliability they deliver. From mid-sized businesses driving data-intensive applications like analytics, video surveillance, and disk-based backup, to small enterprises and remote offices needing mixed-workload performance for their dedicated apps.
In addition to solid performance, E-Series enables flexible and cost-effective backup and recovery to the cloud, and features a modern, browser-based GUI that enables simple, flexible administration and rapid data access.
Problem
For years, E-Series customers managed their storage arrays with an outdated Java-based, locally installed, software application. I was brought into the team at a critical time where we could challenge how our customers managed their data.
Solution
Every user interaction was completely reimagined with processes to make each task as easy as consistent possible. Personas were created and used to design each product feature with different users in mind. Common tasks could be performed at a basic or advanced level for extra customization. Opportunities for automations and back-end logic were included for quicker setup.
User Personas
Customers were interviewed to create user personas. Personas were referenced to evaluate solutions to ensure they were consistent with users needs and skill level.
The Design Process
Working with a team of UX designers and developers we established a set of brand standards that included: a color and type system, accessibility optimization, iconography, copywriting and functionality patterns, etc.
Some of the considerations for building these standards included:
- Regular UX team meetings were held to maintain and update design standards. Standards included interactive and visual patterns.
- Create patterns for destructive tasks by making it difficult for our users to accidentally perform an operation that could have drastic implications.
- Maintain consistent terminology and language patterns for all software content.
- Ensure all colors, sizing and coding was accessible. This set was important as many of our clients required ADA compliant software for funding.
- Automate processes where possible to make setup or updates as painlessly as possible.
- Analysis of support data to create self-service workflows to help minimize support overhead.
- Users were able to manage their storage systems by multiple means such as REST, CLI or the GUI. GUIs were also customized for different vendors.
- Cross referencing other NetApp products to ensure clients using multiple management systems could seamlessly navigate betweeen multiple interfaces.
- Create visual indicators such as progress bars to inform users of task status.
- The hardware management feature was built to emulate what they would see on their actual hardware for easy reference.
- Wizards were created when the users tasks contained long workflows.
Before + After
