Critical Features Unlocked 120 Enterprise Customers for E-Learning SaaS

Process

I was the first product designer on Guide. The Omniplex marketing team had established a basic brand design and the developers had started on a design system for Guide. It was decided early in the project that little work should be spent on additional branding design. Useful UI and UX patterns would emerge and be added to the design system.

The design process this project went through:

1. Workshop
   1. Collate research
   2. Jobs to be done analysis
2. UX Audit & Journey Mapping
3. Prototyping
4. Usability testing
5. Prototype modifications
6. Build

Design Workshop

I facilitated an initial design workshop to align the team's understanding of the problem space, craft initial solutions, and get everyone on the same page. The workshop was hosted on Microsoft Teams and Figma's FigJam.

We started the workshop by discussing and defining the problem of supporting large enterprises using Guide to educate 1000+ employees and where the existing application falls short.

Using the jobs-to-be-done story format, we brainstormed the key jobs that needed to be fulfilled.

Jobs-to-be-done analysis from discovery workshop

Wireframes & Prototypes

I created the first wireframes in Figma based on these ideas, exploring the trade-offs of each workflow.

We realized that securely managing user lists was essential. The team discussed various approaches, from users opting-in to groups to automated group assignment based on UI page elements. For example, could we assign a user to a user group based on HTML page content?

Early design prototypes and iterations in Figma

Usability Testing

I conducted a small round of remote moderated usability testing and product discovery with 2 Omniplex customers (1 already using Guide) and 1 manager responsible for the roll out of Guide within Omniplex (dogfooding). I created a clickable Figma prototype to assist with this.

Insights

The initial prototypes had a flat folder structure for managing guides through a drop-down style switcher. Personal guides would live in a personal folder and shared/published guides live in other folders. This proved confusing for participants as the minimal style didn't provide enough sign posting.

A couple participants struggled to restrict guides to a subset of users in the prototype. They had to create a folder, move the guide to that folder, create a list of users, and then assign that list of users to the folder.

These prototypes uncovered a new requirement: keeping a list of 1000+ users up-to-date would be painful and better controlled through an enterprise's central employee database. With this insight, I and the Lead engineer started an investigation into third-party SSO integration services. I designed integration workflows. The team discussed priorities and the trade-offs of adding CRUD user management.

[Prototype] User groups management interface - empty state

[Prototype] Initial prototype of the guide management interface

[Prototype] Employee segmentation and permission management

[Prototype] Browser extension prototype for delivering contextual training

Modified Prototypes

With these insights, I worked on updating the screens to fix the problems. I reverted to a clearer folder structure, providing more UI space for an icon to show assigned user groups. Speaking with the team, we decided to start with basic user management (including CSV upload) and add SSO integration soon after.

Another concern was the limitations of the existing UI layout:

1. How users toggle between different applications they manage
2. The size of navigation sidebar's screen real estate

I redesigned the navigation bar into a thinner bar with icons and tool tips on hover. I added an application switcher displaying the application logo for improved recognition.

Hand Over

Below are a selection of screens that were handed to the developers for build. These screens were refined in the build process in conjunction with the development team.

Original application interface highlighting areas for improvement

Final guide management interface with improved organization and filtering

Enterprise user groups management dashboard

Bulk user upload interface - version 1

Bulk user upload interface - version 2 with enhanced feedback

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

I led the product design process from research through ideation and prototyping. I worked closely with C-suite to get their unique perspectives and experience on the problem space whilst advocating for the user experience and best design practice.

Prior to the acquisition, Omniplex entirely sold software licenses for employee training software. The organization had no experience of owning and developing their own product.

The sales and account management teams owned the client relationship. These team members were nervous and unsure about allowing our product team to speak directly with customers. But sales conversations are not the same as product discovery conversations. I had to build relationships with these gatekeepers and demonstrate that our customer interview approach would not harm those relationships but actually strengthen them. My efforts to build this trust internally started with this project and continued throughout my time with the organization.

Outcomes

We finished the project with a focused roadmap and requirements for the developers to build and the sales team to start selling.

• 120 enterprise customers signed up within 12-months.
• Prioritised and de-risked roadmap through product discovery and prototyping.
• Easy-to-use workflows to support (previously unsupported) complex real world employee training needs.
• Extensive user management leading to new pricing models and business opportunities.