Hyper Protect Virtual Servers
Design Research | Enterprise Design Thinking | Service Design
Role: Design Researcher
Team: UX Design, Content Design, Development, Architecture, Offering Management
Methods: Interviews, Personas, Questions + Assumptions, Surveys
Hyper Protect Virtual Servers is an offering that enables IBM clients to create highly secure virtual servers that are protected from insider and outsider threats. By embedding design thinking into the full product team and engaging in continuous usability research, I helped the product team to eliminate unnecessary code and streamline the installation process for an improved user experience.
A typical server room, courtesy of the IBM Digital Asset Marketplace
Overview:
In this project, I conducted generative and evaluative research in order to improve the overall experience of installation and use. After client feedback sessions leading up to general availability and the initial product release in early 2020, it was clear that the offering team had become disconnected from the client experience. This resulted in a challenging CLI-based UX, a lengthy installation process, and low offering adoption overall.
In addition to conducting research, it was also important to me to enable members of the greater team to engage in user-focused methodologies. It is my responsibility to ensure that my work and outcomes translate to the more technical side of product development, and that the developers, architects, and offering managers I work with feel comfortable using elements of design in their day-to-day work. By embedding enterprise design thinking (EDT) into the full product team, we created a truly user-centered installation experience, increasing client interest and product adoption.
Objective:
Virtual servers, encryption, and the mainframe are all highly complex spaces that require deep technical knowledge to understand. The objective of my research work over the past year has been to ensure that our clients trusted this offering to maintain the security of their data, as well as to ensure that the offering can be easily installed and used. My main research questions were: Is the user confident in the security of their credentials and data? and Does the installation experience meet/exceed the user’s expectations?
I hoped that these questions would lead to improved CLI and UI outcomes, as well as a higher confidence in the offering overall. Additionally, I aimed to further encourage the stakeholders on my IBM teams to incorporate design methodologies earlier on in the process and better understand the value of design and design thinking.
Work:
My initial work focused on guiding clients through a tech preview of the code and receiving generative feedback on how to improve the user experience, primarily focusing on installation. After the completion of the tech preview, the focus of my research turned to evaluating usability improvements to the command line interface. As the need for a focus grew more apparent, I also encouraging the incorporation of design methodology into the practice of the developers and architects that I work with on a daily basis.
Some highlights:
Created a research plan to better connect with clients, evaluate the offering, and introduce development, architecture, and offering management teams to EDT
Facilitated generative and evaluative research (interviews and cognitive walkthroughs) with internal and external stakeholders, amounting to 50+ user hours
Synthesized conversations and data from clients into meaningful insights for the greater Hyper Protect Virtual Servers team, and led Empathy Map and Needs Statements exercises to encourage reflection
Facilitated an EDT and Business Model Canvas workshop with Crypto/Key Management client in Germany in order to better understand user perspectives and potential use cases
Led an “Introduction to EDT” workshop for our Development and Architecture team in India to onboard new employees and embed design practice from day 1
Developed and led an EDT workshop for Hyper Protect Virtual Servers sellers and technical leads on requirements and limitations for High Availability and Data Recovery
Collaborated with UX Designers, Content Designers, Architects, and Developers to create action items from client feedback to improve the CLI and enhance the user experience
Client workshop in Germany to determine use cases.
A slide showing feedback from a client. Insights are communicated concisely to the greater team to drive action.
A map of user experience from discover of the product to end of use. Red dots indicate pain points and areas that could be improved. I populated this map with data collected from interviews with clients, sales and product teams, and subject matter experts.
Improved CLI Installation process (proprietary information redacted). Red boxes indicate code removed as a result of research findings.
Outcome:
Early adoption rates prior to research initiatives were low due to the intensive and difficult installation process. The security components of Hyper Protect Virtual Servers, as well as its orientation on the public cloud via the Z mainframe, necessitated a complex CLI-based install that took an extensive amount of time.
The image shows improvements to the initial installation — red blocks indicate steps removed, while green blocks indicate simplified replacement code. The offering is now simpler and faster to install, and more accurately meets time and expertise expectations. Clients are more confident in the installation and adoption process, and in contextual interviews rated each of the components a 4/5 or 5/5. As we move towards the release of V2, the design and development teams will continue to incorporate these insights to improve experience.
In addition, the extended team is now comfortable using design thinking tools and terminology in their work, and has fully incorporated a user-centric focus into their work. The roadmap and goals for 3Q 2020 through 2021 is fully based on user needs and insights.
Last Thoughts:
As an ongoing research project, my work with Hyper Protect Virtual Servers has provided the foundation for my design work and my understanding of the product ecosystem at IBM. As the offering continues to evolve, I would like to incorporate the research process earlier into the overall lifecycle to help guide the offering towards a more user-centered experience from the start. With each published version, the team has worked to establish this focus earlier and earlier, and I am confident that in the coming months, the user experience will become even more of a central goal for the greater product team.
As a result of this project, I am now comfortable:
Advocating for user research and user experience and its importance to offering adoption
Collaborating with coworkers and leaders across geographies and across disciplines to drive design outcomes
Tailoring EDT practices and activities to specific offerings in order to promote user-centered design and development across the product