Our job was to create a services product for all of Microsoft's enterprise customers. Our site on web and mobile offers case support, learning workshops and environment assessments. Large design challenges included a dashboard, chatbot and assessment reports. My design team worked in design sprints collaborating with research to focus on user-centered design.
The current approach to IT support is reactive, costly, and inefficient
I worked closely with the research team to identify user needs and painpoints. We created user journeys and key experience metrics to influence the product roadmap. We used these frameworks to drive exploration towards solutions. I was one of 3 designers working on the product feature set.
To kickoff a project we wanted to focus on learning about the users. The goal was to understand as much as possible about their needs, motivations and goals. Which I then translate into; personas, user stories, user journey maps, project requirements and success metrics.
Working with research we crafted a persona to guide our designs
Target Audiences
Role: Administrators, Developers, Help Desk, IT Implementers
Seeking support features to improve the team's technical skills, review and improve the health of systems, and open requests for technical help.
Needs:
Create a hassle-free way for IT professionals to open support cases and manage their company’s private technical environment with Microsoft products.
Armed with sticky notes and whiteboard markers we start processing the information gathered via collaborative design, sketching storyboards, wire framing, user flows and defining the information architecture and content strategy.
The static wireframes are brought to life with prototypes to create interactive experiences of the solutions that I can take to clients and users to observe their reactions, interactions, pain points and gather feedback. I used a combination of InVision, Marvel, Balsamiq and Principle to help realize my ideas.
We then tested prototypes with real users to gather both quantitative and qualitative feedback. Multiple solutions are also A/B tested to determine stronger concepts to be further refined. If we find that the solutions don’t solve the defined problems as intended then it’s back to the drawing board and revert back to the Exploration and Prototype stages until a validation solution.
With VPs, developers, designers and project managers, we started processing the information through sketching, wire-framing, and user flows. Feature solution includes: on-boarding, landing pages, dashboard redesign and data reports.
Create a digital tool that anticipates and alleviates customers technical issues.
Once the prototype has been validated, only then we move onto refining the visual aesthetic of the experience. This involves designing the user interface elements, branding system, typography styling, iconography, colour palette and imagery.
To make design decisions I worked from our validated research, Microsoft style guide and inclusive framework.
I completed the following designs…
Each team is sent an invitation via email to join a group, very similar to joining a team on Slack. Once they open the email and create an account they are onboarded into the product.
We identified the key usage pattern that drives high engagement. It’s important the user completes these tasks in the first 90 days to understand the value and create loops of engagement. I took this into consideration, recognizing the large importance of onboarding..
Design solution 1:
After user onboard they are navigated to the dashboard. The Services Hub dashboard allows users to stay on top of issues so they can resolve them faster. This is done by aggregating key data points and support information in one location. We used the user testing done earlier as the main point of reference as well as the new Microsoft design system: Fluent.
We collaborated as a design team working off of the same file.
Outside of opening a support case the second most common user scenario is running, viewing and presenting data reports. Most case reports are a result in an error with Microsoft software not inter-grading into the private VPN environments. By running an assessment of any errors, clients have an opportunity to identity problems early and potentially resolve issues independently from the Microsoft support team. This feature is a tool aimed to empower clients in common issues and save costs on Microsofts business.
I found a great opportunity to work closely with the user base of this product. Considering this was a business-to-business relationship, I could talk directly with the clients to understand their needs. I found this project most challenging in relation to the users' pain points. Their needs were related to their role as an IT professional. The technical infrastructure and the terminally that came up in conversation was at confusing and required me to do extra research to understand their perspective.
