Cyxtera
Product Design
Client Mangement
John Johnson, Troy Thomas, Sarah Cantor, Kyle Makischuk, Colby Gergan
Notably, during this period, Cyxtera successfully went public, attaining a remarkable valuation of $2.3 billion. Our contributions played a pivotal role in shaping the company's trajectory, demonstrating the tangible impact of our partnership on Cyxtera's growth and success.
Challenge
How might we IT professionals a better way to manage their data center equipment?
Reserach Insights & Guiding Principles
Cornerstones are the foundations that a product is built upon. The cornerstones for the Cyxtera customer product were developed through our understanding of the customer research, customer context and needs, and the business needs of Cyxtera.
Our Customers are Smart
While we should not expect customers to be immediate experts in Cyxtera's products and services, they are experts in IT and their organization. Therefore they come with a task or set of tasks already in mind. Our aim is to create create workflows not actions.
Design with Context
The interface and experience should reflect the systemic relations of the customer's infrastructure (physically & digitally) and usage of Cyxtera.
Transparency
Making data transparent, contextual, and actionable is very important. The data our product provides is how customers gain visibility and control over critical systems for their organization.
Thinking Iteratively
Cyxtera supports the innovation of their customers and they are committed to grow and improve along side them and the industry.
Key Features
Dashboard
Cyxtera is a data center management company that is driven by the data of how their data centers are managed. From environmental to access reporting, visibility into the current and potential setup to all the status of the infrastructure, data underpins the majority of the customer's experience with Cyxtera. The dashboard provides visibility and control, that data is our most valuable resource for the customer.
Ordering
Whether it is the Customer’s first time setting up their infrastructure or expanding on their infrastructure. Our designs account for pre-execution and post-execution steps for a task, and support our customers in those steps wherever possible.
1. For a pre-execution example, if a customer will need specific information to start a process in the product, the first step should be a list of that information and its relevance.
2. For a post-execution example, if we know purchasing a cabinet usually means that the customer also has to purchase power, after a customer purchases a cabinet we should surface the ability to purchase power.
Infrastructure
Customers utilize Cyxtera to operate and oversee complex technical systems, with many related parts. In many cases the Customers are managing their infrastructure remotely so the interface and experience should reflect these systems and relations in an easy-to-understand manner. Use visualizations and a representative UI to communicate these clearly.
Search
Customers who are looking to complete a specific job or task can access the search feature that provides quick and clear results. Our design has a built in filter system that can narrow in on the specifics, and predictions to support our customers wherever possible.
Rebrand and Design system
Additional to working on features and collaborating with engineers and product owners, we are also responsible to build and maintain their expansive Figma design system.
We engaged in cross-collaboration between the marketing and product teams to strengthen Cyxtera's brand identity, ensuring coherence in our narrative. Collaboratively, we crafted a bold and adaptable visual design system, propelling Cyxtera as a frontrunner in the industry.