Splunk
Transforming Design at Splunk: A Journey of Leadership and Growth
1. Inception: At this stage, UX is unrecognized and there's no user-centered design approach. The concept of UX may be entirely new or not fully understood.
2. Awareness: The organization starts to become aware of the value of UX, though there might not be a formal process or dedicated team for it yet.
3. Adopting: The organization begins to adopt UX practices in some projects with a designated team or individual. It’s more of an ad hoc approach, but the wheels are in motion.
4. Maturing: Here, UX methodologies start to mature and be formalized. A dedicated UX team exists and these practices may extend to specific projects or departments. UX principles are starting to be widely recognized.
5. Integrated: At this stage, UX is wholly integrated into the organization. User-centered design is practiced on most projects, and there's a significant investment in the UX team and resources. UX is not only valued but is a part of the strategic conversation within the company.
These stages provide a roadmap for organizations to gauge their UX maturity and determine the steps needed to further enhance their UX practices.
Creating Design Organization from scratch
Starting my journey as the head of design at Splunk was a fascinating experience, full of challenges and learning opportunities, I brought a wealth of consumer-focused design expertise to a traditionally B2B-centric software environment. Over the course of three transformative years, this unique perspective proved instrumental in redefining the user experience quality of our software suite, while also driving significant team expansion and cross-functional collaboration.
In the realm of B2B software, the tendency is often to prioritize function over form. Yet, my background in consumer-focused design provided a fresh lens to view this challenge, leading to a profound shift in our design philosophy. We began to treat the businesses we catered to not as monolithic entities but as collectives of individual users and unique environments in which sales engineers actively assist customers in ingesting the data to be able to use our software. This adoptive UX creation approach allowed us to humanize our design process by constantly visiting the customer and listening to them, enhancing the UX quality of our software suite and making our solutions more intuitive, engaging, and user-friendly.
With this renewed focus on user-centric design, we undertook the task of growing our team, from a tight-knit group of 11 designers to a robust cohort of 72. This expansion was not just about adding numbers, but about incorporating diverse skills and perspectives that could help us better understand and cater to our users.
We took steps to establish core competencies that would augment our user-centric design philosophy. A dedicated user research team was established, focusing on understanding the needs and behaviors of our users more intimately. We also initiated design program management, instilling a systematic approach to organizing and executing our design projects effectively.
The recognition of the importance of data user experience was another significant milestone. With the rise of big data and its pivotal role in business decision-making, we launched a data UX team. Their work was centered on representing complex data intuitively, thereby enhancing the efficiency and intuitiveness of our software solutions.
What is a UX Maturity?
To accurately evaluate Splunk's UX maturity level and identify which processes and activities are becoming daily norms, I initiated a UX maturity audit. This assessment aimed to gauge both the team's and executives' comprehension of UX design within the organization.
A UX Maturity Chart served as a valuable tool in this process. This tool aids businesses in understanding and assessing their current User Experience (UX) proficiencies and procedures. It offers a structural model to quantify and improve UX strategies and execution, facilitating the development towards more mature, efficient, and user-centric design methods.
By leveraging this chart, I was able to map Splunk's progression in UX maturity, paving the way for continued growth and refinement of our user-focused design practices. This process was instrumental in setting the trajectory for our UX evolution, driving us towards a more integrated and impactful approach to design.
A Modernized UX Research Team
Establishing a dedicated UX Research team was an instrumental step during my role as the Head of Design at Splunk. Recognizing the importance of user insights in driving effective design decisions, I championed the creation of this team to ensure a steady stream of user feedback and insights throughout the product development lifecycle.
Forming the UX Research team was a strategic move aimed at embedding user-centric perspectives deeply into our design and development processes. The team was composed of seasoned researchers with both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Their role was continuously exploring, analyzing, and presenting user data and insights, illuminating the path for our designers and product development teams.
Unlike traditional setups where UX Research might be more ad-hoc or project-specific, at Splunk, our UX Research team was fully integrated into the product development process. They were involved from the earliest stages of concept development, providing initial user insights to guide the direction of the product, and they stayed engaged through every step of the development process. Their research was not merely a one-time input but a constant source of guidance and validation. We also introduced “Rapid Research,” - in which our researcher can quickly test our assumptions and hypothesis within three days to provide fresh evidence and facts into our process.
Moreover, they were able to foster a deeper understanding of the user among the entire product development team. Their insights didn't just impact the design; they informed feature prioritization, product strategy, and even marketing efforts.
The establishment of the UX Research team significantly elevated our user-centric design approach at Splunk. They ensured that user insights weren't an occasional input but a constant compass guiding our teams. Their integration into the product development team contributed greatly to our products' success, reinforcing the critical role of user research in creating effective, engaging, and satisfying user experiences.
Design Program Management Office
One of the highlights of my tenure as the Head of Design was the establishment of a robust UX Program Management capability within the design organization. Recognizing that bridging the gap between designers, engineers, and product managers was a critical success factor for our projects, I sought to institutionalize this interaction through a dedicated program management function.
The goal of the UX Program Management was to provide structure, cohesion, and operational efficiency to our design projects. To do this, we created a program management team comprising individuals with a deep understanding of UX principles, as well as strong organizational and coordination skills.
In their role, the UX Program Managers were the nexus of communication and coordination between designers, engineers, and product managers. They facilitated the exchange of ideas, ensured alignment of project goals, and managed timelines and resources. They were the shepherds of the project from inception to completion, driving collaboration and coherence across all stakeholders who grew up in the tech without interacting with designers up until our arrival.
One of the key contributions of the UX Program Management team was helping designers navigate their interactions with engineers and product managers. They worked to foster a mutual understanding of goals, constraints, and capabilities among these teams, aiding in the translation of design intent into technical requirements and vice versa. They also ensured that user needs remained at the forefront of all discussions, helping keep the focus on the ultimate goal: creating an exceptional user experience.
By instituting the UX Program Management capability, we were able to streamline our project execution, enhance cross-functional collaboration, and ultimately produce better-designed, user-centered solutions. The Program Management team became an integral part of our design organization, bridging gaps, enabling smoother processes, and contributing significantly to the maturity of our UX practices at Splunk.
Building A Data Visualization Framework
Another initiative I would like to mention is the UX initiative to build a bespoke data visualization framework for all Splunk products. This task involved moving away from store-bought solutions like Highcharts to creating a proprietary framework tailored to our unique requirements and vision.
As a company specializing in turning machine data into actionable insights, data visualization is at the heart of our offerings. Therefore, the necessity of a robust, flexible, and user-friendly visualization framework was evident. My goal was to create a design system that was not only aesthetically pleasing but also served as a powerful tool to interpret and interact with complex data.
As we embarked on our journey to build a bespoke data visualization framework for Splunk, one of the key driving factors was competitiveness. In an industry where companies like Datadog were already demonstrating the capability to visualize complex data logs into highly interactive and sophisticated dashboards, it was clear that a bespoke solution was not just desirable, but a strategic necessity.
The design process started with a thorough audit of our current visualization capabilities and an understanding of our users' needs. Collaborating closely with our UX Research team, we gathered valuable user insights and learned about their data visualization preferences, needs, and pain points. This user-centric approach ensured that our designs were grounded in real-world needs and expectations.
Simultaneously, we collaborated with our engineering team to define the interactive capabilities of our visualizations. The goal was to create a smooth, intuitive user experience that went beyond just viewing data to interact with it meaningfully. This included the ability to drill down into details, filter and adjust views, and easily interpret complex data sets.
The result was a visualization framework and design system that was deeply integrated into our product suite and served as a cornerstone of our dashboard capabilities. Our designs catered not just to the visual presentation of data but also to how users could manipulate and interpret this data to extract valuable insights.
Our proprietary data visualization framework was a monumental stride in our UX journey at Splunk. By building it from scratch, we were able to tailor it specifically to our users' needs, enriching their experience with our products. This project serves as a testament to the power of design and engineering collaboration, user-centric design, and the value of bespoke solutions in delivering exceptional user experiences.
Democratic Design Process
Maintaining a high retention rate amongst our designers has been closely linked with the democratic design process I foster within our team. This strategy disperses decision-making power across the board, emphasizing that the contributions of each team member hold significant weight in our collective creative journey. In essence, it's not about me as a leader, but about us as a team of creators.
One might ask, why democratic design? The answer lies in the richness and diversity it brings. This process encourages a multitude of perspectives, effectively neutralizing biases that might otherwise emerge. For instance, if Designer A holds a particular viewpoint, an open discussion allows for other perspectives to balance and enhance the initial idea.
And when it comes to steering the team in a particular direction, I don't just give directions; I show them. I actively present my proposed design solutions, allowing the team to discuss, critique, and comprehend the rationale behind my suggested direction. This process enhances credibility and encourages commitment because they're not just following a directive, but engaging with the design reasoning.
It's important to clarify that a democratic design process doesn't lead to decision-making anarchy. Rather, in crucial situations, I play the role of a facilitator, guiding the team through the decision-making process while making sure everyone's contribution is considered. This approach ensures our designs are not just products of consensus but also embody conviction and thoughtful deliberation.