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Navigating a Complex Product Transition

Flagship enterprise analytics product (desktop and cloud experiences)

Product

Timeline

5 weeks

Methods

Moderated Usability Testing

Exploratory Interview

Context

As the product moved through a major transition, I identified an opportunity to expand research capacity by enabling a designer to lead usability testing. I mentored and guided them to ensure rigor, allowing the team to generate reliable insights while I focused on more strategic work.

The Problem

As part of a broader modernization effort, the product introduced a new interface model alongside an existing legacy experience. The challenge was not just delivering a new interface, but ensuring users could successfully navigate a period of transition without confusion or disruption.

For example, during this transition, users might encounter scenarios where they were required to move between two interface modes (modern & legacy) to complete core workflows. While this approach enabled incremental rollout, it also introduced risk - users could encounter inconsistencies in functionality, interaction patterns, and mental models.

Research Goals

  • Evaluate usability challenges when switching between interface modes
  • Understand how users interpret and adapt to the modernized interface experience
  • Identify barriers to adoption of modernized interface and potential points of friction
  • Inform design decisions ahead of an early release

My Role

In addition to leading the research, I designed and implemented a hybrid research model that balanced speed with rigor.

I enabled a UX Designer to lead execution of the study while I maintained ownership of study design, quality oversight, and synthesis. This approach allowed us to scale research capacity while ensuring consistency in methodology and output.

Beyond generating product insights, this work served as a test case for how evaluative research could be effectively supported through structured democratization.

My Responsibilities:

  • Study design (approach, discussion guide, recruitment strategy)

  • Oversight of session quality and moderation

  • Coaching and feedback throughout execution

  • Synthesis and final deliverables


UX Designer Responsibilities:

  • Session moderation

  • Participant coordination and communication

  • Stakeholder updates and interim findings

  • Initial synthesis and reporting

Methodology

We conducted moderated usability sessions with exploratory components.

Participants were asked to:

  • Navigate between legacy and modern interface modes

  • Complete workflows requiring transitions between the two

  • Evaluate messaging supporting the transition


The study included both experienced users familiar with the legacy system and new users encountering the modern experience for the first time.

Impact

This research directly informed how the product team approached a high-risk transition period between legacy and modern systems.

The findings:

  • Validated the overall direction of the modernization effort, reducing uncertainty ahead of release

  • Drove specific design decisions around view-switching mechanisms and interaction patterns

  • Shaped onboarding and in-product messaging to better support users during the transition

  • Influenced how legacy functionality was integrated into the modern experience


More broadly, this work helped the team reframe the transition as a user experience challenge - not just a technical or visual one - ensuring that adoption was supported through clarity, guidance, and continuity.

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This study also impacted the way in which we would view and implement our democratization processes and procedures (see Reflection below).

Reflection

This project surfaced challenges in scaling research through democratization. While usability studies are often well-suited for delegation, variability in complexity introduced risk without clear guardrails.

Gaps in ownership, process, and tooling also impacted execution, extending timelines and making it clear that teams need structure and support to be successful.

This pushed me to think more intentionally about what needs to be in place for democratization to work effectively at scale and I presented the findings to my UXR team, manager, and UX leadership.

Takeaway: Democratization only works when it’s supported by clear structure, not just good intentions.

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