digital workspaces
enterprise solution / UX Lead
Workspaces 9.5, a Citrix-based cloud cockpit environment is being completely redesigned as part of the Workspaces 10.0 initiative to deliver work-related applications seamlessly.
In the dynamic landscape of the digital work ecosystem, the transformation from legacy systems to modernized solutions is a strategic imperative. This case study delves into the journey of enhancing the user experience of ASG Workspaces.
The project aimed to create an intuitive, robust, and adaptable interface that caters to diverse user needs, fostering productivity and engagement.
"Due to confidentiality, all the precise details of the project cannot be presented, the details presented in this project are solely intended to present the design process and do not necessarily reflect the views of the client"
Setting Up The Context
Workspaces 9.5 with swiftly expanding user requirements posed a critical challenge to the product's usability and flexibility, leading to the conception of this project to enhance the overall UX for newer version 10.0.
Also, because the notion of a digital workspace is the fundamental element to access all the work-related applications and utilities, the workspace 10.0 project's design shall play a pivotal role in building the design pattern library and UX guidelines with which the client aims to modernize all their legacy products.
My Role and Responsibilities
In September 2016, I joined the project as a solo UXD working on an end-to-end system and drove the project over a span of two years. During the course of two years, I was initially mentored by two Microsoft designers, and in the admin phase of the project, I was placed in a position where I was mentoring two designers.
My responsibilities encompassed a wide spectrum of tasks, spanning from understanding the user and business needs, mapping product interactions and conceptualization to wireframing, prototyping, and collaborating with project managers, users, developers, and VD Partners. Embracing a holistic approach, I placed a strong emphasis on usability and accessibility to make sure that the design is adaptive enough for a broad demographic user base.
Capturing Insights
During this phase, we delved into users' routines and pain points, crafting a model persona user personas. While, with the existing product as a guide, we were able to comprehend the various flows and reorganize the product's high-level structure. Until October 2016, we collaborated with project managers, users, and stakeholders to unearth insights and translate concepts into features that address business and user requirements.
Consolidated Summary:
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Customization with features such as white labeling is a crucial business requirement.
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Reduced user accessibility due to the absence of integrated functionality.
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The complexity of administrative operations increases as the product scales up.
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Web applications must be readily accessible and customizable according to the needs of the client.
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Users are being taken away from the context of their work in order to access the numerous modules.
Project Definition
Based on the findings from the insights, we were able to set high-level objectives for enhancing the overall Workspaces 10.0 experience and laying a solid foundation to make the product highly adaptable to the swiftly changing business needs and highly diverse user base. Here are the project's high-level objectives.
High-Level Project Goals:
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Create a product that is robust and highly flexible.
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Create interactions that are simple and intuitive.
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Create deeper user and product engagement.
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Create a product that always keeps the user in context.
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Unified system to access work applications and Seamless Design.
Interaction Conceptualization
Our interaction strategy is deeply rooted in a user-centric approach, finely tuned to optimize content presentation through insights from user routines and business preferences. By identifying frequently accessed features, we've streamlined navigation. At the core of this strategy is a panel-based, master-detail structure that eliminates the need for repetitive page interactions, maintaining contextual engagement. Users seamlessly engage with unfolding panels, accessing tailored content and swiftly navigating the hierarchy, resulting in an efficient and intuitive interaction experience. This phase encapsulates our approach to crafting an interface that seamlessly marries user needs with modern design principles.
Key Aspects:
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Streamlined Navigation: Module-based, Quick access with global features and enhanced engagement with local elements.
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Seamless Connectivity: Quick access to files, emails, and apps on any working network.
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Personalized and Customizable: Empowering users to tailor engagement to preferences.
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Content Hierarchy: Logical content arrangement for optimal flow and high intuitiveness.
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Responsive Design: Consistency across devices, maintaining usability.
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User Onboarding: Smooth transition through intuitive process.
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Collaborative Approach: Enriched by stakeholder and expert insights.
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Role-Task Matrix
On the basis of the project requirements, a role-task matrix was developed in order to list all the activities for each user persona, which served to determine the following information:
Project Blueprint:
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The product's high-level modules and use-cases prioritization.
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All significant user flows, scenario mapping, and role-based goals.
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The complexity of each task and user expectations.
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The usage and engagement pattern of each task.
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Feature Based Mapping of associated business and user needs
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Capabilities for Multitenancy and Role-Specific Architecture.
Since the product framework is complete, we have prioritized the various modules according to their level of significance and followed an agile methodology driven by use cases in collaboration with the users and stakeholders during the design process.
Wireframing (Adobe XD)
Once the use cases are resolved, we begin multiple iterations of the flows, whereas previously the primary objective was to maintain consistency and make the flows intuitive. After several iterations, all low-fidelity wireframes were transformed into highly detailed wireframes.
Invision Prototyping
We have used InvisionApp to present the flows and receive feedback; after each module's detailing, we receive feedback from project managers, users, and stakeholders; and after multiple rounds of feedback and modifications, the wireframes are sent to the VD team.
Visual Design
Visual Design is done in collaboration with a design studio based in Pune; with continuous collaboration, we often describe the flows and provide clarification with regard to interaction philosophy whenever necessary; and we conduct multiple iterations of refinement and review sessions to achieve the best results.
Design Guidelines
The user interface for the client's products was designed to be simple, flexible, and consistent, with subtle interaction patterns distributed throughout the system. The new interactions included various modules and features such as user customization, dashboards, and edit modes, among others. User experience was attended to in great detail to ensure that interactions were intuitive and uncomplicated.
Have drafted UX, Accessibility, and motion guidelines to aid developers in providing the best UX for end users. In order to ensure that the application of the interactions is consistent, intuitive, and hassle-free, the guidelines were provided in a very descriptive and detailed manner, and they can be used as a reference for all future product interfaces.
Takeaways from the Project
Workspace is one of my first extremely challenging design projects. The project's scope allowed me to work on an extremely diverse set of interaction modules and features, including multi-tenancy, modifiable dashboards, user personalization, an app delivery store, and multiple utility widgets.
Aside from design considerations, it was an incredible voyage of collaborative work in an agile-driven environment. The endeavor improved my thought process and broadened my perspective regarding the design of experiences.