NetApp Connect

Advanced simplicity.

My Role

I joined NetApp via the acquisition of ionGrid. I lead the design for NetApp’s first consumer-facing product NetApp Connect. I defined the information architecture and user experience for the next generation product.

I reported to the senior director of mobile and interfaced with team leaders from product management, engineering, testing, and sales.

The Product

NetApp Connect extends the vision of ionGrid Stratos. Connect is an iOS and Android app and server that enables quick and secure access to corporate files.

Goals

Our goal was to rebuild ionGrid Stratos from the ground up so it would work with NetApp’s storage systems. We expanded the platform to include Android phones and tablets.

My goal was to continue to advocate for a great user experience and elegant design. I wanted the product to feel comfortable and intuitive on any platform.

Process

Although NetApp is a large corporation, our team acted more like a startup. My process included: research and discovery, conceptualization, design, prototyping, production, and design testing.

My activities fell into the following buckets:

  • • design research / competitive analysis
  • • UX strategy / conceptualization
  • • prototyping and testing
  • • UI design and production

Wireframes

Our research revealed that many enterprise customers used both iOS and Android platforms. This fact drove my decision to keep the user experience as consistent as possible.

iOS

I took the opportunity to create a cleaner, simpler, and flatter aesthetic. Because I was designing for multiple systems, I created a platform agnostic design system.

Android

Three challenges arose when designing for the Android platform. First, the aspect ratio on the tablets required more attention to adaptive design. Second, the Android back button presented new navigation paradigms. Third, technical limitations required a slightly different implementation of the drawer and top bar. More discussion on that below.

Drawer

I wanted to maintain a consistent user experience across Android and iOS. But, I also felt it was important to respect each platform's characteristics.

For example, I honored the Android app bar, tray, and fonts to help our app feel like a native Android app. On iOS, I used the default system fonts, status bar, and hierarchical navigation.

This afforded consistency whether users were on their personal iPhone or a company tablet.

iOS Phone

Android Phone

There were technical constraints that affected the design. The Android platform made it difficult to copy our approach to the drawer verbatim. Their system required the app bar to be the top layer in the UI stack. It also required the use of an app icon which played against my minimalistic approach.

There were also challenges with the drawer itself. My design called for a two-column drawer. The design challenged the Android team, but they were able to replicate it to my satisfaction.

And Now, The Future

NetApp Connect solved a major security problem and gave cloud-like access to business files. But, companies wanted more than access to documents. They wanted a turn-key business productivity suite. They needed a secure container which respected their complex security policies.

To help scope out a future roadmap, I designed a comprehensive enterprise productivity suite.

I sketched out solutions for a mega app. It included the most important enterprise tools: email, calendar, contacts, notebooks, task lists, intranet, secure web browsing, file viewing, file sharing, annotating, offline viewing, geofencing, etc.

I took the best ideas to the next level and built a detailed set of wireframes. They allowed me to refine the UX framework and develop a consistent UI pattern library.

The documents gave product managers the tools they needed to influence decision makers. It also helped engineers with scoping tasks.

impact

I redesigned our core app and helped launch Connect in record time. Since NetApp was new to customer facing tools, I coached key leaders in the importance of user-focused design.

  • Advocate pitched for good design to management, sales, and engineering
  • Design authored a user-focused design manifesto to inform stakeholders
  • Testing wrote design-focused test plan and spun up new QA team
  • Product scoped out design vision for full featured enterprise suite