Deployments
Project: Redesigning the DNSFilter MSP Management Experience
The Challenge: Reducing Complexity for the MSP Power User
Our primary user persona for this project was the Managed Service Provider (MSP) "power user." Through extensive user research, we uncovered a significant pain point: managing dozens, or even hundreds, of clients involved constant context-switching, navigating between disparate dashboards, and a high cognitive load. The existing workflow was fragmented, making it difficult to get a holistic view of their clients' security posture or to perform bulk actions efficiently.
Our core design challenge was to transform this complex, multi-layered management task into a streamlined, intuitive, and centralized experience. The goal was to empower MSPs to work faster, reduce human error, and feel in complete control.
My Role & Approach
As a lead designer on this project, I was responsible for the user journey mapping, information architecture, and UI/UX design for the new management dashboards. Our process involved stakeholder interviews, competitive analysis, and iterative wireframing and prototyping, with continuous feedback loops from a focus group of our key MSP power users.
The Solution: A Unified "Single Pane of Glass" Dashboard
The cornerstone of the redesign is the new MSP dashboard, which serves as a true "single pane of glass." We intentionally designed this hub to provide an immediate, high-level overview of all client activity while allowing for frictionless deep-dives into granular details.
Key design principles we followed were:
Progressive Disclosure: Users see the most critical, high-level data first. More detailed information for a specific client is just a click away, revealed within the same view without navigating to a new page. This drastically reduces the friction of context switching.
Visual Hierarchy & Attention Guidance: The entire deployment and management section was redesigned with a consistent visual language. We used clear data visualizations, status indicators, and subtle color cues to naturally draw the user's attention to what matters most—such as offline devices or misconfigured sites—guiding them to take action efficiently.
Key Design Highlights
1. Centralized Roaming Client & Site Management
We consolidated the Roaming Client and Site management into a unified experience within the main dashboard.
Before: MSPs had to enter each client's sub-organization to see the status of their off-network devices or site configurations.
After: We designed a single, filterable view that aggregates all roaming clients and sites from every managed organization. An MSP can now see the status of every single endpoint they manage, from one screen. Bulk actions and powerful search functionality were introduced to make managing thousands of assets as easy as managing ten.
2. Frictionless Drill-Down Navigation
One of the most impactful design choices was the ability to manage individual clients without leaving the main dashboard.
Before: To edit a policy for "Client A," an MSP had to navigate away from their global view, losing context.
After: We implemented an organization drill-down that allows an MSP to click on "Client A" from the global list, make changes to their specific policies or users in a focused view, and then seamlessly return to the main list. This preserves the user's mental map and streamlines the workflow.
The Outcome: An Experience That Empowers
The final design successfully addresses the core pain points of our MSP power users. By centralizing control and creating a consistent, intuitive interface, we've transformed a series of tedious tasks into a fluid and powerful workflow. The new experience significantly reduces the time and clicks required to manage multiple clients, lowers the cognitive load on users, and provides them with the confidence that comes from having complete visibility and control over their entire client base.