Case Study: New Ops Platform
Project Background:
This project involved leading the design and development of a new operations-focused platform to replace an outdated legacy system originally created by one of the company’s founding developers. The legacy platform, designed primarily for SMEs and developers, faced significant challenges. Technically, it was nearly impossible to scale or improve, and from a user experience perspective, it suffered from inconsistencies in icon libraries, button sizes, poor contrast, and clunky interactions.
Objective: The goal was twofold:
- To create a platform that simplified and streamlined operators' workflows by delivering a more consistent and intuitive user experience.
- To revamp the interface with a modern, on-brand aesthetic that aligned with the company's evolving identity.
Approach: To address these challenges, I initiated the project with a comprehensive heuristic evaluation of the legacy platform, identifying key pain points and areas for improvement. Leveraging these insights, I developed low-fidelity conceptual wireframes and collaborated with subject matter experts (SMEs) and internal stakeholders to refine the designs.
This iterative process led to the creation of prototypes, which were rigorously tested with end-users to gather actionable feedback. Through multiple iterations, I finalized high-fidelity designs that not only resolved the platform's usability issues but also introduced a cohesive and scalable design language.
Outcomes: Beyond redesigning the platform, I created a custom design system to serve as its backbone. This system not only ensured consistency and scalability for the current platform but also established a strong foundation for future products across the company.
Heuristic Evaluation
Below are the screenshots from the heuristic evaluation I conducted. I took screenshots of the legacy platform and pasted them in Figma where I added annotations to capture all issues and inconsistencies I noticed.
Low-Fidelity Concepts
Following the heuristic evaluation I created a number of low-fidelity concepts to try and start laying the ground work for the new platform.
User Feedback
I eventually tested a prototype with several users to gather feedback and test whether I was heading in the right direction.
To capture all the feedback and I created an affinity diagram and presented it to the product manager, SME's and other stakeholders and discussed my findings and recommendations.
Style Concepts
Following the user-testing I went through several more iterations until I finalized a high-fidelity design. I created multiple styles of the final design to test different color schemes and see which one would work best.
Nocturne DS
Once I finalized the final look and feel of the new platform I went about building a custom design system that would not only lay the foundation for the new Ops platform but for other future products across the company.
