About the application
A web application that allows users (geologists, petro tech engineers) from the Oil and gas industry to use domain applications like Petrel, Techlog, and others to use on cloud.
Why on cloud?
These softwares are heavy. They need a super high end machine with graphics to run.
Enabling them on cloud has major benefits:
One doesn't need a high end machine - save cost!
One can access them remotely - access to more users!
The problem
A poorly designed and tightly coupled workspace that enables users to access petro-technical applications on cloud, became a pain for customers, and they started to off-board from cloud suite
Exciting impacts of the solution
Before:
After :
By redesigning the workspace we achieved:
The hockey stick growth - more users on cloud!
But why is cloud adoption a necessity?
Design process and plan
Tweaking a legacy system with improvement in mind is similar to approaching a hungry lion's den.
What helped was collaboration, planning, and breaking down the problem into pieces.
It was an ambitious timeline with high stakes! But we did it smartly!
Discovering gravels in the existing flow
This is the as-is journey to demonstrate the technical complexities and 21 clicks to achieve a simple task :
User goal : Opening the most recent piece of work
Design audit - Identifying issues in the existing interface
Subscriptions page:
Workspace - before cloud workstation has started
Workspace - after cloud workstation has started
Heuristic evaluation:
We discovered an efficient reference for this, called as Usability Evaluation for Business applications.
Below is the report:
Understanding the users : Personas
This web application (SaaS) is used by geologists and petro-technical engineers working in the oilfield services sectors.
Its a platform that serves as a gateway for accessing flagship softwares like Petrel, Techlog and more on cloud, used for oil and subsurface exploration.
Listening and learning from customers : User interview insights
User research revealed key issues: customers struggled with access to work, and complex workflows eroded trust, with some falling victim to unclear navigation. Rebuilding trust became our priority.
I led roadmap planning and facilitated stakeholder meetings, aligning teams on a redesign strategy to address these pain points while meeting business goals.
Selected voices to focus on from ocean of opinions
Aligning business & tech team for a smarter solution
A product and engineering alignment workshop was conducted so as to define:
Competitor analysis
Product roadmap
Feature prioritisation
Tech stack and feasibility
Defining problem statement
Key takeaways
From the competitor study and scope, it was clear what what are the must haves.
Feature prioritisation using HMW, helped in sorting what to do immediately, what to park for later, and which ideas to discard
Our bets
We believe
The VM start along with user login will reduce time to access work
The 1st thing users want to see after landing is their most recent work, and apps
Providing users the control to launch application will simplify their main workflow
Letting users know about product and application updates will help in building trust
Users need technical control on demand and not always
Value proposition
Redefined brief
As a product company, we need to provide our end users a way to improvise their daily work experience which includes quicker access to work and applications. Additionally, we need to build trust of our customers, so that we can get more of them to onboard to the cloud suite
Proposed workflow
This workflow focuses on solving the key problems faced by our customers reducing the steps by 50% and cutting nearly 18 clicks!
Designing with precision
Iterations, re-dos, and concepts that did not make through -
but the learnings were jaw dropping!
Super practical visual design details loved by customers :
Login flow
Landing Page & settings
Landing with only apps and no projects:
App opening experience
Project opening
Proving our bets:
Bet # 1 : The VM start along with user login will reduce time to access work
Bet # 2 : The 1st thing users want to see after landing is their most recent work, and apps
Bet # 3 : Providing users the control to launch application will simplify their workflow
Bet # 4 : Letting users know about product and application updates will help in building trust
Bet # 5 : Users need technical controls only on demand
Usability metrics and Validation
Feedback loops were constant. From Google analytics to user surveys, every iteration was shaped by real-world insights.
Within 6 months, we have team has onboarded ~3K new customers, which is the ultimate achievement
Conclusion
Leading the product design the geologist's workspace has been a rewarding challenge. From redesigning the homepage to merging it with the workspace, we have worked to simplify the cloud workstation better in stages.
These efforts boosted user engagement and access to work, showcasing our impact. Despite challenges like meeting diverse user needs and staying ahead of trends, this role has been an inspiring journey of creativity and growth in SaaS.