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A customer support system of FLOW

Let's start by defining what FLOW is. FLOW is an engineering analytical tool that helps reduce cycle times, build strong teams, and deliver with confidence.

 

Next, let's talk about Seva. Seva, previously known as Inspector, is an advanced production tool tailored for Engineering and Support purposes. It enables seamless access to customer data. Because of its high capabilities, it is important to consistently monitor and strictly control access to this tool.

Company

Pluralsight, FLOW

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Role

Senior Product Designer (IC)

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Year

2022 - 2023

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Collab

PM, Engineering Manager and Developers

Case study

Unmet needs

The Inspector application lacks a user-friendly experience. Users are resorting to using other apps and creating shortcuts to fulfil their requirements, even though these tasks could be completed within the Inspector application. The Inspector application's core functionalities include impersonating customer experiences to provide support and diagnosing production issues in the Flow app. When these functionalities fail, it hinders support teams' ability to perform their jobs effectively.

Objective

The goal is to create a tool that will help us better support our customers on the backend. This includes adding support for cloud-prem customer instances as well as multi-cloud customers.

 

Inspector contains a lot of crucial and important information, making it a key area for improvement. We need to make Inspector more user-friendly so that users can utilize it fully.

 

We need to address the pain points of our users and enable them to work more accurately and efficiently. Many features in Inspector are currently underutilized, and we need to enhance the user experience in the application to make it a comprehensive backend support tool for resolving customer issues.

Strategy & Plan

We were very clear about the product. Here are the key points we decided to move forward with:

 

1. Research and understand user needs, problems, and frustrations, and how they want to use the tool.

2. Follow the LEAN approach and improve the entire product by utilizing the maximum used features by users.

3. Ensure that the product is fast, responsive, and accurate to enhance overall productivity.

4. Prepare the product for business use to attract customers. Currently, it serves multiple tenants, but we also want to tailor it for single-tenant customers.

Process

At FLOW, we follow a sprint-based work method. Before starting a sprint, we need to present our approach to the business stakeholders and demonstrate how it will benefit the business.

Our pitch was approved, and we received the green light to proceed.

 

Following the approval, I began working on the Design Plan. I started by analyzing the existing application and then moved on to the research phase. After completing the research, I gained a clear understanding of the users' needs and pain points.

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Execution plan

Approach to Solution

Retaining all current features while enhancing user experience: Our focus is on improving the user experience without removing any existing functionality.

  • Addressing current pain points: Implement a new architecture, introduce new filters, and enhance search functionality.

  • Keep all existing features with improved experience: Not removing any existing functionality but focusing on improved user experience.

  • Designing for the future: Develop an application that is capable of accommodating single-tenant customers when we onboard them.

1. Addressing pain points

New Architecture for a Better Customer Journey.

In the current system, users are unable to distinguish between frozen and active organizations. All information related to the organization is displayed on a single page with no filtering options available. The search criteria are scattered throughout the entire application, making it difficult for users to locate. Additionally, users are unable to view admin users and frequently encounter session conflicts when impersonating on the same browser tab.

Our solution involved a complete redesign of the application architecture and user flow.

2. Keep all existing features with improved experience

Not removing any existing functionality so that the user will not face adaptability issue

In user research, we have found that all given functionalities are important and most of the users use them in certain ways, so I decided to carry forward all functionalities into a new system with an improved format. I will ensure that no existing functionalities are removed to avoid any adaptability issues for the user.

3. Design for future

Create a scalable design that can adapt to future requirements. 

We included in our pitch that this tool can be deployed on a single-tenant customer cloud. This was our business proposal, so I had to create a design that is scalable from all perspectives.

Old vs New user interface

I have successfully addressed all the issues mentioned by the users and seamlessly incorporated the look and feel of FLOW into Seva to ensure it integrates into the system. This is the final design.

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Proactive Design and Development Collaboration

Context: In a dynamic and fast-paced project environment, I recognized the need to keep the development team engaged while awaiting final designs. This initiative not only facilitated seamless workflow but also enhanced overall project efficiency.

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1. Creation of Skeleton and Lo-Fi Wireframes

 

  • Objective: To provide the development team with a preliminary visual framework and ensure a clear understanding of upcoming tasks.

  • Outcome: These wireframes served as a foundational guide, enabling developers to commence preliminary coding and integration activities. This proactive step effectively bridged the gap between design finalization and development initiation.

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2. Requirement Planning and Backlog Management:

  • Collaborative Effort: Worked closely with the Product Manager (PM) and Engineering Manager to meticulously plan requirements and groom the backlog.

  • Feature Estimation and Prioritization: Engaged in thorough discussions to estimate and prioritize features, ensuring alignment with project goals and timelines.

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3. User Acceptance Testing (UAT):

  • Template Creation: Developed a comprehensive UAT template tailored to our project’s specific needs. This template structured the testing process, ensuring all critical aspects were covered.

  • Writing UAT Cases: Collaboratively authored detailed UAT cases with the PM and Engineering Manager, focusing on real-world scenarios to validate the functionality and performance of the product.

  • Testing Participation: Actively participated in UAT alongside developers, providing immediate feedback and facilitating prompt resolution of identified issues.

  • Wireframing Tools: Utilized industry-standard wireframing tools (Figma) to create clear and concise Lo-Fi wireframes.

  • Agile Practices: Employed agile methodologies for requirement planning, backlog grooming, and feature prioritization.

  • UAT Documentation: Designed and implemented a robust UAT template to ensure comprehensive testing coverage.

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Results:

  • Enhanced Developer Engagement: The creation of skeleton and Lo-Fi wireframes kept developers productively engaged, minimizing idle time and ensuring a continuous workflow.

  • Improved Project Efficiency: Early involvement in requirement planning and backlog management streamlined the development process and facilitated timely feature delivery.

  • Effective Testing and Quality Assurance: The structured UAT process led to thorough validation of the product, ensuring high quality and readiness for deployment.

Find out the UAT Sheet here.

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Conclusion:
My proactive approach and collaborative efforts in bridging design and development, along with meticulous planning and testing, significantly contributed to the successful and efficient progression of our project. This experience demonstrates my ability to adapt, lead, and ensure high-quality outcomes in a fast-paced development environment.

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Collaboration and Launch Strategy for New Application

  1. Collaboration with PM: Worked closely with the PM to outline and refine the launch strategy, ensuring alignment with overall business goals and user needs.

  2. Communication Channel: Established a channel to provide real-time updates on the development progress. This included:

    • Weekly Engagements: Regularly crafted and sent weekly updates highlighting new features, enhancements, and important changes. This ensured transparency and kept the team and stakeholders engaged and informed.

  3. User Guide Creation: Developed a comprehensive Confluence user guide designed to support users in understanding and navigating the new application. The guide included:

    • Detailed explanations of new features and functionalities.

    • Step-by-step instructions on how to use the application.

    • Visual aids and screenshots to enhance user comprehension and ease of use.
       

This approach not only facilitated a smooth transition to the new application but also empowered users with the knowledge they needed to maximize the application's potential, thereby driving higher engagement and satisfaction.

What we expect

  • ​Move the inspector to a standalone application with access managed by Okta.

  • Establish standards for each new integration, including rate limits.
  • Implement more robust feature toggling, access permissions, and logging/security of features.
 
The primary goal of this project was to onboard single-tenant customers into our tool and demonstrate that their data is secure. To achieve this, we created and launched into the FLOW for testing, and we now have a few single-tenant customers for whom we need to provide a demo.
 
"By redesigning the entire application, I was able to deliver an enhanced user experience, improved performance, and a more usable application that meets user needs."
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