Security-as-a-service

Where to start?

Step one was figuring out what we could do. This involved collaborating with engineering to figure out just how easy we could make it. After a quick brainstorm, we were able to come to some really creative solutions.

Working in process diagrams first clarified user paths quickly

Early wireframe exploration generated ideas for further simplification

Setup in a snap

Our goal was to make setup as close to automatic as possible. The reality was we only needed a couple of things from our customer to make it work. So I created a single screen UI to set it up inside of the same area they already manage their domains.

I created clear, specific, actionable error messages to avoid confusion from the non-technical audience.

Ahh clarity

To feel secure, our customers needed to be assured of their SSL status — and be warned immediately if things weren't okay. Our design system didn’t support much detail in our sidebars yet, so I extended a component to provide in-context alerts, working with the rest of the design team to make sure it was flexible enough to be a valid system addition.

Project impact + reflection

This was another project that required really learning how the nitty gritty of how a complicated technology works. It was fun to collaborate with the dev team to figure out how and what we could abstract from the back-end logic and make simpler on the front-end customer base.

We later wanted to add multi-domain support, and the patterns I had created fit like a glove. It simply required creating a few more alert states, the technical ability to select multiple domains at once, and some logic to prevent re-selecting the same domain twice…and we were good to go.

All-in-all the project was a success! Our customers love it, and SSL-related support has dropped consistently since.