Tanzu Mission Control Starter
A Freemium play exposing key functionality of VMware Tanzu's Mission Control, a centralized hub for simplified, multi-cloud, multi-cluster Kubernetes management solution.
In 2022, we introduced TMC Starter—an innovative freemium offering that provides users with a foundational Kubernetes management experience, showcasing essential functionalities such as security policy and user management attachment, and cluster operations. This no-cost entry point strategically positions VMware to establish a strong presence among burgeoning customers, priming them for growth and scalability in the future.
I played a pivotal role in shaping the user experience of TMC Starter, including the design of feature locks that highlight restricted functionalities, optimizing the checkout flow for a seamless upgrade path, and refining the user experience within the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section. Moreover, I spearheaded comprehensive research and conducted usability testing to ensure that the interface not only communicated usage limitations effectively but also delivered an intuitive experience that resonates with our diverse user base.
Product Designer
2022
Product Manager
Fullstack Engineers
Usability Testing + Results
The Challenges + Learnings
It's important to challenge assumptions early on the product road mapping journey. As a product designer, I'm equipped to facilitate workshops using frameworks that pinpoint our riskiest assumptions in our product solutions. Bringing awareness to these assumptions and identifying how to determine if we're on the right path lead us to the most valuable cost-efficient offering. Addressing these assumptions early and proactively can lead to substantial cost savings.
Regrettably, by the time I joined the team, the TMC Starter initiative had progressed beyond the discovery phase. This meant that it was already scheduled for design and production, leaving me unable to directly contribute to the product strategy during the initial discovery stage. Despite this, I wholeheartedly embraced the challenge of maximizing the available resources. I saw first hand the substantial impact of advocacy in promoting user research—a pivotal component of ensuring the alignment of our efforts with user needs.
I've learned that vocalizing concerns with kindness is immensely impactful. Through consistent engagement with both my product manager and design manager via multiple one-on-one sessions, I secured the necessary support to formulate a comprehensive research plan. This plan facilitated rigorous testing of the TMC Starter experience, providing us with invaluable insights into how the experience resonated with users.
Be empowered by data-driven insights: The usability tests, with TMC Starter, unearthed several noteworthy challenges . Upon testing out TMC Starter a striking revelation emerged—70% of users expressed a preference to bypass the initial "Getting Started Launchpage" experience and dive directly into attaching their first cluster. In response, we shifted our approach from prioritizing the launchpad as the entry point to instead propelling users directly to the "Attach a Cluster" step. Nonetheless, we retained the launchpad option in the top corner of the left navigation for those who sought a more guided pathway.
Collectively, this journey proved incredibly enlightening. It provided me with a profound understanding of Kubernetes deployment intricacies and shed light on the challenges that developers and operators grapple with daily. The experience was incredibly technically enriching.
