Enhancing the Release Manager Experience
Design Brief
The Release Manager (RM) is a software tool that helps teams plan, schedule, and manage software releases more easily. It streamlines the release process from the moment a new feature is developed to its production stage, guiding it through various stages.
Users:
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Release Managers: Oversee the release process and ensure smooth transitions.
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QA Teams: Ensure releases meet quality standards before deployment.
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DevOps: Collaborate for approvals and ensure smooth deployment through automation and infrastructure management.
Company
Visa
Role
Lead UX Designer

Research
Conceptualization

Collaboration
Design
User testing 

Dev handoff
Team
01 Architect

01 Product Manager
02 UX Designers

05 Engineers
Duration
3 months
Problem
Visa's current method of managing software releases relies heavily on spreadsheets, leading to numerous operational inefficiencies and challenges.
Challenges:
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Complex Workflows: Multiple, intricate steps are time-consuming and create significant bottlenecks.
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Manual Interventions: Heavy reliance on manual tasks increases the risk of human error and reduces overall efficiency.
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Communication Gaps: Teams struggle with effective collaboration, resulting in delays and frequent miscommunications.
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Tracking Issues: Monitoring the progress and updates of releases across various stages is cumbersome and prone to errors.
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Offline Approvals: The approval process requires offline coordination, complicating tracking and increasing the likelihood of mistakes.
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Onboarding Challenges: New users face a steep learning curve due to a lengthy and complicated onboarding process, delaying their productivity.
As Visa transitions towards agile methodologies, there is a critical need for a solution that simplifies workflows, enhances team collaboration, and improves the overall user experience to speed up onboarding and ensure high-quality, timely software releases.
HYPOTHESIS
We hypothesize that by building a user-friendly release management platform that automates workflows, integrates communication tools, and provides real-time tracking and digital approvals, we will achieve the following user experience improvements:
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Streamlined processes will make managing software releases faster and easier.
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Automation will increase efficiency and accuracy.
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Integrated communication tools will enhance team coordination and reduce delays.
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Real-time updates will improve oversight and management of releases.
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Digital approvals will simplify and expedite the approval process.
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Intuitive design will facilitate quicker adoption and productivity for new users.
Design Process
IT ALWAYS STARTS WITH THE PEOPLE
It all began when we had conversations with stakeholders through interviews and surveys to gather insights on workflows and challenges. As part of the interview process, we sought to understand how users currently manage software releases, the issues they face, how information is captured and stored, and derive insights for improvement. We conducted 7 semi-structured interviews to gather this information.
UNDERSTANDING THROUGH EMPATHY
We employed empathy mapping to deeply understand the users' experiences, needs, and challenges. This method allowed us to capture and synthesize user insights effectively.
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INSIGHTS
Users experienced challenges in tracking the entire release lifecycle and struggled to ensure all stakeholders were properly aligned throughout the process.
Communication breakdowns between cross-functional teams often led to misalignment and errors during the release process.
Users expressed a strong need for improved visibility and tracking of release status and issues throughout the release pipeline.
There was a desire for a more intuitive user interface that could accommodate both novice and experienced users.
GOALS
Ensure full lifecycle visibility and alignment
Provide a unified release view, ensuring stakeholder alignment and improved tracking throughout the process.
Improve cross-team communication
Foster better communication and collaboration between cross-functional teams to reduce misalignment and prevent errors during the release process.
Enhance visibility and tracking
Provide real-time visibility and tracking of release status and issues to allow users to monitor the entire release pipeline with ease.
Create an intuitive user interface
Design an easy-to-use interface that caters to both novice and experienced users, ensuring a smooth and efficient experience for all.
USER PERSONA
Developed user personas representing different user types and created empathy maps to visualize their experiences and needs.
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SO HOW DID I DO IT?
Task prioritization using the MOSCOW method
We decided to start with the must and should features, we consider that those features could solve the main features could solve the main problems and relieve the pain points of the users like manual tasks, poor communication and limited visibility.
Provide real-time visibility and tracking of release status and issues to allow users to monitor the entire release pipeline with ease.
Design an easy-to-use interface that caters to both novice and experienced users, ensuring a smooth and efficient experience for all.
Providing detailed data analysis and custom reports for in-depth insights.
Simplified visual layout for better tracking with minimal effort.
Status updates via notifications to improve user awareness with little effort.
Small design tweaks like adjusting font sizes and color contrast that had little impact on user satisfaction but were easy to implement.
Providing simple guidance through tooltips and onboarding tips to enhance usability with minimal effort.
A feature allowing users to personalize their dashboard layout, simple to implement but with limited impact compared to other features.
MUST
SHOULD HAVE
COULD
WILL NOT HAVE
Visualizing the Journey
I mapped both the current and future user journeys to identify pain points and optimize workflows.
Solution Discovery
FINAL VERSION OF FEDILITY DESIGNS
Solution
COMPLEX WORKFLOWS → STREAMLINED, VISUAL WORKFLOW
​I designed a centralized visual workflow on the landing page, displaying all environments and release statuses at a glance. This allowed users to quickly understand the current state of any release without digging through spreadsheets.
Outcome:
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Reduced time spent tracking release status.
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Improved decision-making with real-time visibility across all stages.
MANUAL INTERVENTIONS → AUTOMATION AND REAL-TIME SYNC
​Integrated the tool with JIRA to automatically sync epic-related information, reducing the need for manual updates and ensuring data accuracy.
Outcome:
20% reduction in human errors. More accurate release data and faster updates.
COMMUNICATION GAPS → ENHANCED COLLABORATION TOOLS
​Introduced real-time notifications, shared comments, and task assignments, all within the tool, to facilitate smoother communication and approval processes.
Outcome:
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Faster approvals and fewer missed updates.
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Improved team alignment and collaboration.
Usability Feedback
Participants appreciated the intuitive design of the Release Manager application, particularly the visual representation of the release pipeline.
Users found the risk management features helpful in identifying potential issues early, allowing for proactive measures to be taken.
The communication tools integrated within the application facilitated better collaboration among teams, reducing miscommunication.
Some users suggested additional training resources and tooltips to help onboard new users more effectively.
Success Story: The deployment implementation led to significant measurable outcomes
30%
Reduction in manual tasks – Automation enabled operators to focus on strategic work.
60%
Boost in collaboration - Integrated tools streamlined workflows and reduced misalignments.
50%
Faster release cycles - Structured workflows and automated approvals optimized deployment.
40%
Quicker issue resolution- Real-time risk tracking minimized bottlenecks and delays.
Key Breakthroughs in Research and Design Process
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Holistic Understanding of User Needs: By employing a user-centric approach and focusing on the principles of PET Design (People, Environment, Technology), we gained a deeper understanding of user workflows and challenges.
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Enhanced Collaboration: The emphasis on communication tools within the application fostered stronger collaboration between development, operations, and QA teams.
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Increased Automation: The implementation of automation features streamlined the release process, significantly reducing the time and effort required for deployments.
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Iterative Design Methodology: The iterative design process, informed by continuous feedback, ensured that the final product was both functional and user-friendly.