VMWare asked us at Artefact to establish a new vision for vRealize Operations (Ops.Next) based on research-driven insights. The vROps application was understood by a relatively small group of “PhD” masters of the tool, and we were brought in to help make it more relevant and accessible to the rest of the users.

MY ROLES

UX Design
UI Design
Visual Direction

Make vROps accessible to non-PhD masters of the tool.

Simplify workflows to access critical data in less steps, and redesign data visualization to be more readable for newer users.

After extensive user research across several states and companies, we noted plenty of challenges the users faced day-to-day. We saw opportunities to transform vROps from a “views and reports” tool to a portal that would empower teams with shared understanding and help IT business decision makes become proactive and confident about the health and capacity of their systems. 

We designed a customizable dashboard that would serve as the launching pad for the rest of the app in order to optimize for common workflows and reflect best practices. We enabled it with pinnable information cards and intelligent search to cut through the noise and provide clarity of purpose. We also designed a system of application-centric troubleshooting to provide for a varied set of users with a focused set of needs. 

We created click-through prototypes to paint a future vision where Ops.Next became a critical tool for more stakeholders within the organization.

The new design lowered the bar to entry and made vROps more accessible to new users.

We showed specifically how more team members would overcome the app's steep learning curve and use it daily to diagnose and resolve most problems. This would free the “PhD” level masters of the tool from heavy use, allowing them to delegate more tasks to their team to focus on planning and strategy. Our vision would also enable customers to self-diagnose their applications and solve problems with fewer escalations.