Reducing Task Completion Times by 40-60%
Formative Usability Testing
Company
Wind River
Industries
Technology
Date
August 2022
Wind River is a global leader in intelligent edge software, providing mission-critical systems for industries like aerospace, defense, automotive, and telecommunications. Their technology powers embedded systems that demand high reliability, real-time performance, and robust security.
About the Project
Wind River needed a secure yet flexible admin tool for managing user roles and access permissions across their platform. The goal was to balance security constraints with usability to ensure administrators could efficiently assign, modify, and revoke user permissions without unnecessary complexity.
Impact
Through interviews with Field Application Engineers, we identified key friction points in Wind River’s internal admin tooling. Based on those insights, we redesigned the interface to streamline license management and role-based access.
As a result of these changes:
Estimated 40–60% reduction in time to assign or revoke licenses (based on observed prototype walkthroughs and batch editing features)
Decreased error risk by implementing clearer license warnings and safeguards in failure scenarios
The Process
My research approach focused on uncovering how real admins worked and where their tools fell short. I:
Conducted 5 remote interviews with FAEs across teams
Mapped out existing workflows and points of failure
Identified pain points and common actions when managing large datasets under strict access rules
Synthesized findings to guide decisions on layout, table interactions, and permission handling
Working closely with the product manager and developer, I translated these insights into a flexible table design with role-based controls while iterating quickly with internal feedback sessions.
What I'd Do Differently
A/B testing on alternate interaction models
For example, testing table-based layouts vs. expandable/collapsible views to see which better supports decision-making at scale.
Moderated usability test across varying roles
To understand how needs differ between IT admins, project leads, and managers — and ensure role-based views are effective.