The Workflows project was designed to enhance the entire incident management process for busy DevOps teams, equipping them to identify, prioritize, and respond to issues efficiently. The workflow covers the full spectrum: from defining potential issues and creating precise queries for notification triggers to organizing and analyzing incident data for actionable insights. This new product aimed to simplify the complex layers of incident management, empowering users to seamlessly act on critical data.
"The setup is a nightmare. I have to jump between different screens just to configure one workflow, and if I miss a step, I have to start over."
This project had to make observability workflows accurate, user-friendly, and efficient within a complex tech environment. With the platform moving to the cloud and a fresh design system in play, the old workflow and notifications setup needed a serious update. Competing with industry leaders like PagerDuty and Grafana, we had to create an experience that stood out in usability and effectiveness.
“Half my time is spent troubleshooting the tools instead of solving actual problems. It’s like I’m fighting the system instead of using it.”
Plus, user engagement with the existing product was low due to a fragmented structure that often left key alerts unnoticed. Configuring workflows required multiple steps across different sections, making it frustrating and time-consuming. Our challenge was to bring everything together in a way that felt seamless and intuitive, tailored to different user roles like team managers and on-call engineers.
• Simplify and streamline incident management, making it accessible for even the most complex cases.
• Boost user engagement with a more intuitive, user-friendly experience.
Increase appeal for corporate clients, ensuring the tool meets enterprise needs.
• Enable observability engineers to set up workflows with minimal risk of errors.
• Make the tool indispensable for teams relying on real-time incident tracking and response.
I researched SaaS platforms to identify design patterns for the dashboard and worked with CSMs to pinpoint the most relevant stats for Sensos clients. With different use cases in mind, the goal was to create a flexible, customizable product that delivers valuable insights and improves workflows for each client.
• The configuration process was disjointed, with separate steps that caused inconsistencies and frustration.
• Limited flexibility in notification settings forced users to reconfigure channels for each rule, adding to their workload.
• Confusing product terminology led to misunderstandings and additional friction.
These insights were crucial in shaping a more user-centric design.
The solution focused on cohesion and flexibility. We unified the workflow structure, streamlining the setup process and removing unnecessary steps. A flexible notification framework allowed users to choose when and where they’d get alerts, so the right people received the right info at the right time. Notifications were enriched with additional data from New Relic, making them not just timely but useful for action. Observability engineers could now customize incident responses without the risk of errors, while managers gained better control over the entire workflow.
With all configurations migrated to the new Workflows structure, transparency improved, setting the stage for an advanced Notification Platform. User engagement jumped, with traffic increasing by 3-5% thanks to the new “Enrich” feature. Users added more notification channels per setup, and the “Test workflow” feature proved invaluable, letting them confirm setups before going live.
Looking forward, Workflows opened doors for further automation and customization. Advanced users now had the flexibility to create tailored configurations, and the groundwork was laid for future features that could push the platform even further. This project was just the beginning of a bigger evolution in incident management, showing the power of a user-centered approach in transforming complex workflows.
The Workflows project redefined incident management for DevOps teams, turning a fragmented process into a seamless, user-friendly experience. This wasn’t just a redesign; it was a foundational shift that brought future-proof flexibility and scalability. Workflows set a new standard, proving that user-centered design can make all the difference in high-stakes environments.
