Overview

Starting a new role always comes with challenges—in my last role, one of the biggest was simply getting access to the digital tools needed for daily work. Employees were overwhelmed by scattered resources, excessive documentation, and inconsistent guidance, which made onboarding slow and frustrating.

To address this, our team created an initial tool access prototype during a company hackathon. While it proved the concept had potential, it lacked user input and wasn’t aligned with the company's evolving enterprise systems. All Aboard was the second iteration—designed to turn that early prototype into a scalable, user-centered solution.

Role & Duration

Product Designer & Developer

User Research, UI design, Usability testing, Front-end development

Jan 2022 - March 2025


The problem

The prototype was limited in scope, it lacked integration with the company's technology stack and didn’t reflect real user workflows. It was not scalable as an enterprise-wide solution. To truly solve the issue, the system needed to be redesigned from the ground up, creating a centralized, intuitive platform aligned with both user needs and company infrastructure.

User research

To address the gaps in the existing tool access experience, I conducted in-depth user research to better understand employee needs, pain points, and expectations.

30 employees were interviewed: 20 veterans (3+ years experience) and 10 new hires (under 1 year). Participants included software developers, product managers, and UX professionals, providing a wide range of perspectives across roles and levels of experience.

The research focused on uncovering:

  • Primary users of the access management system and their frequency of use

  • Employee needs, frustrations, and pain points related to tool access, permissions, and the current application’s usability

  • User behavior on the landing page, including expectations for content and navigation

  • The current access request process, highlighting points of confusion, inefficiencies, and how users track status or expect feedback

Research Findings


🔗 Centralized Access Saves Time
Users loved having all their tools in one place, cutting down endless searching across multiple systems and speeding up their workflow.

⏳ Request Status Tracking: Not a Priority
Most employees reported instant tool access approvals, so checking request status felt unnecessary. Many said they wouldn’t revisit the page just to monitor progress.

👥 Flexible Access Models Are Key
While self-service access was popular, team leads also needed the ability to manage tool permissions for their groups especially in larger or cross-functional teams.

🚀 Excitement for More Tools
Users showed strong interest in expanding the platform to include additional tools, envisioning it as their central hub for all digital resources.

User personas


Tara S.

Engineering Manager | EV Software development | 8+ years with the company

"I don’t have time to request access individually every new hire I need a way to manage access at the team level."

Goals:

  • Efficiently onboard new team members

  • Manage tool access for the entire team in one place

  • Ensure compliance and visibility into who has access to what

Frustrations:

  • The current tool doesn’t support bulk actions or team-based access management

  • Relies on outdated documents or manual processes to grant access

  • Lacks a centralized dashboard to view or modify team access

Needs:

  • A clear, streamlined way to request and manage tool access for multiple people

  • The ability to delegate tool permissions and track team-wide access

  • Visibility into request history and tool usage across their team

Jason M.

Product Designer | Design Enablement | 6 months with the company

"When I joined, I had no idea what tools I needed or how to get them—it felt like trial and error."

Goals:

  • Quickly access the tools needed to start working

  • Understand what tools are available and how to request them

  • Have control over managing personal tool access

Frustrations:

  • Difficult to find where to request access or what tools are needed

  • Documentation is overwhelming or outdated

  • No easy way to track the status of tool access requests

Needs:

  • A self-service platform that clearly outlines available tools

  • Simple, guided workflows for requesting access

  • Immediate confirmation or feedback on the status of requests

Conceptualization

To translate research insights into a usable solution, I began by mapping out the information architecture and creating low-fidelity mockups that addressed the core user scenarios—for both individual contributors and managers. These scenarios were guided by real workflows uncovered during user interviews.


Once the initial concepts were in place, I collaborated closely with the product manager, developers, and key stakeholders to gather feedback and secure alignment. With their approval, we conducted usability testing using the low-fidelity prototypes to validate our assumptions and identify areas for improvement.


Following positive feedback and validation from testing, we confidently moved forward by refining the designs into high-fidelity, interactive prototypes, ready for development handoff and further testing.

Solution

All Aboard — an enterprise-wide, self-service and team management platform designed to simplify tool access management and accelerate onboarding.

Secure Login: Integrated with the company's enterprise security protocols for a smooth and safe login experience.

User-Friendly Home Page: A centralized dashboard for employees to browse available tools and manage their access requests through intuitive self-service forms that are accessible through the corresponding button links.

Self-Service Add Page:
A simple, easy-to-use form that lets employees add themselves to tools based on tool-specific details. The form is designed to work for all types of tools, making it quick and consistent for users to request access.

Bulk Remove Page:
A flexible removal interface where users can remove themselves, others, or multiple people from tools using a single, standardized form. Built with generic, adaptable fields to support different tools, the page ensures efficient access cleanup across teams.

Team Management: A dedicated interface for managers to handle team-wide tool access, track requests, and onboard new hires in bulk. Take a closer look below!

Usability Testing

Usability testing was an ongoing part of the project, conducted at multiple stages to ensure the product met user needs and expectations:


  • Low-Fidelity Prototype Testing: Early user feedback was gathered on the basic user flows and interactions before investing time in high-fidelity designs. This helped identify and resolve major usability issues early on.


  • Feature-Specific Reviews: For every new feature—especially those integrating additional software tools like JFrog and Jama—we actively sought input from both stakeholders and end users to validate design decisions and ensure alignment with real workflows.


  • Beta Testing: Prior to the official launch, we conducted a soft rollout with the comany IOS team, consisting of over 300 members. Their initial feedback provided valuable insights that informed final refinements and improvements.

Results

All Aboard was adopted enterprise-wide with 3,000+ active users

  • Streamlined tool access for new and existing employees

  • Reduced time spent navigating scattered systems

Integrated with 12 internal tooling teams

  • Including GitHub, Slack, and other key platforms

  • Expanded functionality and improved daily workflows

Improved user experience

  • Positive feedback on clarity, simplicity, and self-service access

  • Teams appreciated flexibility for both individual and team-based management

Retrospective

  1. User-Centered Design is Essential for Adoption
    Building an enterprise tool without direct user input limits its effectiveness. Engaging diverse user groups early and often ensures the solution addresses real pain points and fits naturally into existing workflows.

  2. Balancing Self-Service and Team Management Improves Scalability
    Supporting both individual contributors and managers with tailored access models is crucial in a large organization. Flexibility in user roles enhances efficiency and encourages wider adoption across teams.

  3. Iterative Testing at Multiple Stages Drives Better Outcomes
    Conducting usability testing from low-fidelity prototypes through to beta launch helps catch issues early and adapt the design based on real user feedback. This iterative approach reduces risk and leads to a more polished final product.