Redacted UX Case Study (Hardware + Software)
Role: UX Architect
Scope: UX strategy, research, information architecture, interaction design, design system alignment
Timeline: 2020
Product Type: Enterprise control software delivered on a pre-configured appliance
Confidentiality: Product names, UI visuals, and internal metrics have been generalized
Overview
This project focused on adapting an enterprise-grade control and monitoring platform. The goal was to preserve advanced capability while dramatically simplifying deployment, onboarding, and day-to-day use.
I led UX strategy and research from early discovery through converged design, working across software and hardware constraints within a broader digital ecosystem.
The problem
Smaller facilities needed access to enterprise-level monitoring and control, but existing solutions were:
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Too complex to deploy quickly
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Designed for highly specialized operators
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Difficult to onboard without training
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Overloaded with navigation, terminology, and configuration steps
UX challenge:
How might we make an enterprise system feel approachable, intuitive, and fast to deploy—without stripping away critical functionality?
Product vision
The Small Form Factor experience aimed to:
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Deliver enterprise functionality on a pre-configured appliance
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Require minimal user input to get up and running
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Support facilities with limited scale and staff
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Simplify navigation, dashboards, and setup flows
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Align visually and structurally with a unified enterprise ecosystem
My role
I owned UX from discovery through design convergence:
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Defined the UX research and usability testing plan
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Facilitated internal and external usability sessions
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Synthesized findings into personas, themes, and architectural direction
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Led information architecture and interaction design
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Ensured alignment with an enterprise design system
Research & discovery
Methods
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Moderated usability testing over multiple weeks
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Combination of internal subject-matter experts and external users
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Rapid iteration between testing rounds
Scale
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Multiple usability sessions
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Hundreds of qualitative data points collected
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Outputs included:
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Personas
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Affinity diagrams
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UX themes
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Storyboards
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Information architecture recommendations
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UX process
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Understand the problem
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Rapid ideation
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Field research with users
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Product vision alignment
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Implementation support
Key insights & design responses
1. Getting started was unclear
Users struggled to identify how to begin setup or connect devices.
UX response
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Introduced a guided Quickstart experience
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Collected critical setup information earlier in the flow
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Validated improved task completion in later testing
2. Users got lost during configuration
Key setup steps lived outside the primary flow, causing users to lose context.
UX response
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Moved essential fields inline
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Reduced navigation jumps
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Preserved forward momentum through setup
3. Navigation labels didn’t match mental models
Users misunderstood several menu items and system concepts.
UX response
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Simplified navigation
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Reorganized hierarchy
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Removed or renamed ambiguous sections
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Relocated analytical content to where users expected it (dashboards)
4. The interface felt busy and intimidating
Early designs overwhelmed users with density and unclear grouping.
UX response
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Reduced visual noise
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Clarified grouping and labeling
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Added contextual cues to help users orient themselves
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Improved scanability without removing capability
Personas
Facilities Operations Manager
Focused on efficiency, clarity, and system visibility.
Service / Support Engineer
Responsible for setup, troubleshooting, and ongoing support.
These personas helped balance approachability with technical depth.
UX architecture
Key experience principles:
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One unified console frame across products
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Clear separation between:
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Monitoring
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Configuration
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Service/system tasks
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Consistent global elements:
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Search
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Alarms
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User context
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Help and preferences
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This created a scalable architecture that fit naturally within a broader enterprise ecosystem.
Design system alignment
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Leveraged an existing enterprise design system
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Reused components to ensure consistency and speed
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Reduced design and engineering overhead
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Allowed the product to feel familiar while still purpose-built
Validation & desirability
Over successive iterations, user feedback shifted away from terms like confusing and intimidating toward:
Clean · Useful · Relevant · Appealing · Advanced · Connected
This signaled increased confidence and clarity without sacrificing power.
Outcomes
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Simplified onboarding and setup flows
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Reduced cognitive load for smaller teams
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Delivered a converged UX direction ready for implementation
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Established a repeatable pattern for future small-footprint products
What this case demonstrates
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Systems-level UX thinking
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Research-driven iteration
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Information architecture at enterprise scale
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Ability to simplify complex technical products
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Comfort working across hardware, software, and platforms
Publishing note
This case study reflects UX strategy and design leadership. Proprietary product names, UI visuals, and internal metrics have been generalized to respect confidentiality.
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