Transforming how Verizon engineers work and innovate
Project
Canvas - a web application for Verizon
Year
April 2019 - April 2020
My role
UX/UI Designer - Responsible for redesign, discovery and ideation, user research and engagement, functional requirements, usability testing, information architecture, branding and visual design, prototypes
Background
Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, joins devices to a customer’s internal IP network using a secure connection that isolates data from the public internet.
In order to provide VPN services, Verizon provisioning engineers primarily use three enterprise applications to manage the protocols operating at the network layer (also known as layer 3). Within this layer, there are three primary components - sites, VPNs and routers.
Simply put, VPNs will contain multiple routers, and routers can contain multiple sites. All of which stretch throughout the U.S. and the world.
Product Goals
01. Provide personalized models and options
Build multi-faceted, user-customizable features that reflect the diversity of our users and use cases.
02. Give users autonomy and choice
Present mixed & dense data in varied ways where users can immediately pick out information they need, identify trends and patterns and take action effortlessly.
03. Easy to configure and control
Make it simple for users to handle fall-outs and tackle time-dependent issues without a disruption to their customers’ services.
04. Identify ideal workflows
Conduct research on users’ industries, tasks and motivations in order to reflect their ideal workflows into the product.
Research
Modernization and speed
I evaluated the current application and set up weekly interviews, focus groups and surveys with users to understand their needs and goals.
Additionally, there was a huge learning curve for me in learning about telecom jargon and how networks, routing and configurations truly worked.
However, I knew it was important to really understand our users’ work and industry in order to deliver a truly beneficial product for our users. Through countless interviews and a trip to one of the biggest Verizon network centers in Weldon Spring, Missouri, I discovered our users’ key needs and motivations.
Speed of application is top priority
Maximize the data shown on a single page
Ability to compare data quickly to identify patterns and problems
Decrease reliance on IT to troubleshoot
An easily accessible toolbox
High technical and auditing capabilities
Different features and functions based on user group and tier for security purposes
Problem statement
Network provisioners need a way to efficiently plan and build functional routes, in order to provide optimal network coverage to their customers.
Rapid iterations
Our established design system made it easy to rapidly iterate and gather feedback. This was extremely helpful, since throughout the project, requirements changed and new constraints were uncovered. I explored different views for service requests and ultimately came up with a view that fit our users’ needs.
Version 1
Version 2
Version 3
Final version
Outcome
I enjoyed working on these features because it involved a lot of user research and detailed interaction work. It also challenged me to transform the complex into usable simplicity. Since our users’ work and domain is so specialized and intricate, I really had to take the time to listen, reach out, question, and do my own outside research in order to truly grasp our users’ industry, daily tasks, motivations and jargon. It wasn’t enough to ask what - but how and why. In the end, this curiosity-driven process resulted in a better design and product (and learning more about the telecommunications industry than I ever thought I’d know).
Lessons Learned
Read between the lines.
Sometimes what people say or do isn’t immediately revealed, clear or even honest. Learning how to make inferences, analyze data, carefully observe and give users space to elaborate helped me to be a more intuitive and empathetic designer.
Set aside assumptions.
Since so many of the legacy applications are so dated and old, it was tempting for me to assume that users wanted the most modern and innovative designs. However, I learned throughout the process that since our users had been using these applications for decades, change wasn’t always embraced. Enterprise user needs are vastly differently than consumer-facing products. This is where it became crucial for me to set aside my own assumptions, understand the core issues, and learn about our users’ industry so they knew I truly cared about and took their work seriously. It encouraged me to be creative with solutions to align the needs of users, business and development in order to deliver great UX.
Fight for good UX, but know how to compromise.
Sometimes compromises are inevitable when dealing with complex enterprise systems with even more complex backends. I learned to balance user, business and development needs, prioritize features, choose what we would and wouldn’t do and know when to pick my battles.