The product

CYDEF delivers cyber security monitoring services to direct clients as well as managed service providers. Included in the service is a web portal where all customers can view insights into their security alerts and overall security trends. Additionally, managed service providers can manage numerous clients under one account.

The challenge

The aim of the new feature was to automate the process of collecting information from the client so that the internal team could create the appropriate accounts and prepare for client onboarding. Currently information is collected manually and inputted into several systems to create new accounts. A dashboard web portal will be used to track the automation and account set-up process. It will decrease time taken to make new accounts as well as ensure all parties have the correct and necessary information.

My role

For this project, I focused largely on conducting user research via user interviews. I created user journey maps and flow diagrams that translated into low fidelity wireframes. I worked continually with my multidisciplinary stakeholders to make decisions.

Solution

To create a new account for a new client, we a comprehensive intake form to collect the information. We also created a dashboard web portal where various users could view, monitor and edit accounts so the set up process could be completed.

Research

To begin my research, I conducted a usability study and user interviews to learn the current processes for onboarding a new client so that they could use the product.

The questions I asked were to help me understand how a new client request is submitted and processed. I wanted to know what information was vital to get an account set up and how users felt about the current sign up process. I was able to see which bottlenecks appeared and why as well as understand what the ideal scenario would look like if certain stages of information transfer and account generation could be automated.

User personas

I was able to identify two distinct user personas with individual journeys and different needs. They are both acquainted with cybersecurity language and proceedings.

Sarah wants to sign up to use the product

They are a new customer
This will be their first time interacting with anything related to the product
They are interested in signing up
They understand cyber security / terminology

Rex wants to track the sign up process

They themselves are an existing customer
They have their own customers whom they manage by using our product
They want to track their new customer sign ups
They understand cyber security / terminology

User journey maps

Each persona goes on a different journey as outlined in the user journey maps. Sarah is interested in learning about the product, signing up, and using the product for the first time. Rex receives the sign up inquiries and facilitates the account creation.

Sarah is interested in learning about the product, signing up, and using the product for the first time.

Rex receives the sign up inquiries and facilitates the account creation.

Findings

Upon analyzing the information, the following was discovered

Users want the sign up process to be quick

Users want to understand what they are signing up for and sign up without needing to fill out a really long form

Users don't want to divulge information unnecessary information

Users didn't want to put in too much personal information for a trial

Users want to keep track of their submission

Users want to know what information they submitted and what the next steps were for them

Users want to be able to track the process

Both types of users wanted to know where the account was in the onboarding process at all times

So how might we design an integrated system that will help Sarah learn about the product and sign up, and help Rex track these sign ups and facilitate the account creations?

Ideation and design

I then moved onto the ideation stage where it soon became clear that we needed a couple different flows to help our two users accomplish their goals. I started by creating user flow diagrams for the two users to better map out the different pages that will be needed. After that, I translated the flow diagrams into low-fidelity wireframes.

User flows

See Sarah's journey as she learns about the product and signs up

See Rex's journey as he tracks sign ups and facilitates account creations

Low-fidelity wireframes

After doing research I put together some low-fidelity wireframes to visualize how the two features were going to work with one another but also ensured that they could be understood if a user were only to interact with one part of the product.

Originally we thought the best way to collect this information was through a web form on the product website. We wanted to ensue that new clients would not have to go through a lengthy sign up process and we wanted to make sure they had access to the information they had input. I was also responsible for gathering the information and creating the intake questions.

Wireframes of the tracking process

On the other side of the process, another user has to track client requests. To to this, an overview dashboard was designed so that the user could see a list of requests as well as their progress status. This list was filterable and searchable to make finding specific requests or groups of requests easily accessible.

A page was also designed where the individual request could be viewed along with the necessary steps to create the account. The user could also track the progress by seeing if any required information was missing or the status of the automated processes.

User testing and decisions

With the low fidelity wireframes we decided to talk with some key users and the product owner to get initial feedback on the designs before moving further.

User comments

Users had a chance to go through the designs and give their thoughts on the features

Positive comments

Dashboard style made it easy to access each clients information
Clear navigation to manage clients and see progress
Review of information before submitting gives peace of mind

Criticism

Did not understand they could reuse information by checking a box
Terminology used in the sign up form was confusing

Final thoughts

While the features were well received by users, it became clear that this new design would be too big to implement in the upcoming development cycles. Instead we decided to break down the functional elements and selected the ones we could implement right away compared to the ones that would take more time. We decided to leave certain elements manual.

We were able to integrated the research and design elements from this project in a larger redesign of the navigational elements of the product.

Emma Sue Reichert

Designing the client intake form and managing the account creation process