STK CLOUD

A browser-based SaaS offering for industry-leading aerospace physics software that would double as a low-maintenance way to support training classes

Role

Lead UX designer (solo designer) - Owned end-to-end UX for the company's first SaaS product, including research, wireframing, visual design, copywriting, email templates, and Agile facilitation. Worked directly with product management and development teams, with autonomy over design decisions.

Challenge

Guide a newly formed team through the planning, design, and implementation phases for the company’s first online SaaS (software as a service) offering, while also helping them acclimate to an Agile development process.

Solution

A scalable design system and user flow that enabled a cross-functional team to deliver the company's first SaaS offering using Agile processes.

THE PROCESS

Business Goals

The business had three overarching goals for this project:

We needed to offer the desktop-based STK (Systems Tool Kit) product, with its myriad of optional features, to users who valued the mobility of a browser and the flexibility of a short-term plan at a time when all purchases had to go through a lengthy process with the Finance department.
Given the complexity of aerospace software, the company hosted training classes continuously and needed an easy, reliable method to get remote learners onto a working version of the software.
With the drive toward training more employees to use Agile development methodologies, a couple experienced members, myself included, were empowered to guide the team’s scrum activities.

Understanding Users

Direct user interaction was a challenge for this project; it was controlled mostly from the leadership level due to the nature of the third-party service
Reviewed customer requests for device support and a short-term options
Spoke with class instructors about common connection and setup issues
Researched other SaaS tools and their websites

Users Needed To...

Feel confident in the website, given the high cost of the specialized software
Understand the software’s capabilities and the value of the subscription
Compare plans and prices
Sign up for a free trial
Sign up for and manage a subscription
Receive automated emails regarding their subscription and trial
Receive temporary accounts during special company training sessions

Design and Leadership Challenges

Limited user access due to the nature of the product and business goals
Creating comprehensive site maps and user flow diagrams to align stakeholders on a unified vision
Training the team in Agile and acting as scrum master for 6 sprints
Planning goals, breaking down the effort, and writing clear JIRA tickets
Tight technical constraints with SaaS online provider
Leading branding and copy decisions independently in the absence of Marketing and Documentation teams
Designing and coding 10+ automated email templates (trial, subscription, renewal) to support customer onboarding

Development Story

This product took two years of off-and-on design work to become a reality. I was brought into the team as the sole designer very early, while stakeholders were still debating whether or not to move forward with the opportunity. The company was nearly 30 years old, but this was its first SaaS offering and web-based storefront. The initial requirements looked simple, but the scope of the request grew increasingly more complex as the project developed, especially given the many technical constraints uncovered when trying to interface with the third-party tool.

The early workflow diagrams I created helped project managers, leadership, and the developers to understand the scope of the project as we worked together to draft a release roadmap for the project ahead. With plans solidifying, I researched a variety of SaaS websites and began sketching wireframes for all the pages in the workflow diagram. Throughout the process, I facilitated communication among my teammates, translating ideas and constraints into drawings everyone could understand and debate.

With the wireframes accepted by the development team and our stakeholders, it was time to define the aesthetic styles. At the time, the company's website was undergoing a complete redesign, but the deadline for launch kept moving back and the Marketing team had no bandwidth to help us. I established a hybrid design system using available brand assets to maintain consistency, with the understanding that we might need to update the design system in a later release. The style system and final concept drawings took many rounds of refinement to bring product management and development into agreement, especially given tight development resources and limitations within the third-party platform being utilized.

In addition to doing all the design work and copy writing, I had been assigned to the team for my experience in Agile teams. Many of my teammates had worked on teams doing waterfall or ad hoc development, and the project manager wanted a more predictable and communicative approach. I helped guide the team in defining requirements, writing tickets, scoping work within a sprint, and communicating effectively during the team’s regular meetings. By the end of the project, I had volunteered to act as the scrum master since much of the design work was ready and only needed occasional adjustments depending on the sprint’s goals.

Gallery

OUTCOMES

Outcomes

Launched the company's first SaaS storefront, meeting all agreed-upon milestones
Offering opened a new revenue channel for the company, allowing customers to purchase short-term subscriptions without going through Finance
Training class instructors saw an immediate benefit from easier software distribution and management during and after classes
Transitioned an 8-member team from Waterfall to Agile, with 100% participation in sprint ceremonies by project end

Key Takeaway

Leading a project from concept to launch as the sole designer requires balancing design excellence with business pragmatism. By creating a flexible design system upfront and training the team in Agile processes, we delivered a complex SaaS product on schedule while building capacity for future web initiatives.

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