Ideate
We gathered the product and design team, which consisted of Managing Product Manager, DM Product Manager, DM Lead Architect, Lead UX Designer (myself) and SQL product UX Designer. We brainstorm and sketched possible solutions.
SQL Diagnostic Manager
Desktop Application Refresh
Project Details
The Product
SQL Diagnostic Manager is a SQL Server Database monitoring tool. It provides alerts of database performance issues on-premise and in the cloud. It has features to help DBAs quickly locate and fix SQL Server performance problems.The Problem
SQL Diagnostic Manager was built in late 90's. It still has the old Windows 98 look and feel. Even though it is being updated, the UI makes appear it isn't. DBAs are not renewing their licenses. Management wants to fix that.The Solution
Modernize and improve the navigation. Collapse the stacked menu into one.
Replace the old Windows ribbon navigation with a top navigation bar.
Make the toolbars and containers dockable. Add actions on the top of
containers. Add search to the header bar. Make the top navigation static.
Update the outdated styling and design patterns. Use flat design. Replace
the old Windows 98 icons with flat SVGs so they support 4K monitors.
How I Reached My Solution
The Plan
Empathize
For the past two years we have been performing various
user studies on SQL Diagnostic Manager attempting to
improve the onboarding experience. During those studies
we were able to unearthed the user problem regarding the
outdated UI and user poor perception.
Analyze
I gathered the data and placed it in an affinity diagraming.
I shared the diagram with the team so we can organize the data
together. We grouped the information by user scenarios. Under
each scenario we listed user goals, pain points, required features
and nice to have features.
Define
After reviewing the completed diagram, we determined in order to
change DBAs perception of SQL Diagnostic Managers so they believe
it is being maintained and updated frequently and won't go away
anytime soon, we needed a large and obvious visual update to the application.
The Design Process
Prototype
I was given a short turnaround time. I opted to create a low-fi clickable wireframes to test with existing and new DBA customers. I also wanted to use a low-fi so the DBAs weren't distracted by the design and could focus on completing their tasks.
Test
I created a test script. I planned to test DBAs performing the top five daily monitoring tasks using the prototype and their understanding of the new iconography. I worked with the Product Manager to established benchmarks for completing tasks. We wanted to compare them to our current product task completion times. It took three iteration before meeting benchmark expectations.
Results
Shorter Task Time
Task completion took on average about 34 seconds.
Faster than Current APP
Task completion was 118 seconds faster than the current app.
Increase in Renewals
Number of users would renew subscriptions increased 98%.