Redesign Keboola Connection UX — part 1 Kick-off [eng]
In this series I want to tell a story about process of redesigning our client app, which starts right now.
I am connecting
Application Keboola Connection is ETL tool, jigsaw for data. It doesn’t provide any tools to visualize data — we let third party partners to create presentation dashboards. They start their own business upon our app. So the typical tasks what users do is to configure ETL processes and watch the results of processes. Actually complicated administration, boring numbers.
Not bad, it makes computations damn well, clients are amazed, plans are big. The problem is, no one before had ever deal with user interactions to the app, neither made the work joyful. It’s a blank paper.
Here is the starting point of my mission. I got exclusive invitation to join Keboola Tech team with vocation to deal with these issues. I don’t consider myself as UX designer (we got Jack for this), but I probably have the greatest experience with frontend (visible part of app). I used my inexperience to make fresh insight on Connection, compared to my co-workers, which stare to the same app for years. In my previous jobs I was dealing with: device responsivity, CSS animations, custom bootstraps, cross-browser issues, wireframing. I enjoy to humanize computers (the opposite what programmers do xD). Personally, this is a big challenge for me.
Offsite Kick-off
My first month in new job, I had been exploring and analysing condition of the Connection app. I condensed my knowledge into slides, which I was presenting on the company’s offsite in Lozice. My presentation consisted of statistics and graphic design audit. I didn’t make any conclusions, it was too early, but I sure have own opinion. The presentation was success. I was lucky I didn’t have to waste much energy to convince my colleagues, that changes are necessary = win-win
So we know what we have and we globally agree what we want — unite UI elements, create patterns for developers (styleguide), make user flow understandable for new users and add users to our design process. The word redesign takes its place, because renaming buttons is not just enough.
The future is not coded yet and will not be for next few months. We are creating something long-lasting, so it’s not worth to start programming immediately. Sure, Iwill be the guy who will code the changes, but on the other hand I want to set the platform on which we will be (self)organizing. At the end it does not matter what I or rest of the team thinks. We should involve users to our process, which happens occasionally.
I have defined next-steps to the following roadmap. Single lines are suggestions for next blog articles. They will be probably overlapping.
- Write down manifesto
- Show vision of future
- Prototypes and concepts
- Implementation
- External validation and user testing
- Including testing into the process
Links / tools
Google analytics, discussion with coworkers, graphic design audit, results from user testing of component (thx Jack), Zendesk tickets, frontendisti.cz, React Sketch.app, atlassian.design
I also want to highlight this video — after watching this i had no doubts where to start, true gamechanger.
I believe it will be fun, when I will see this post after the most of the work will be done. Let’s see how much I am / I am not naive.
