A research repository built to streamline discovery
The Microsoft Hits experience enhances research ingestion, improves navigation, and introduces a consistent visual system.
Situation
This initiative modernized a legacy research tool into a more intuitive platform by improving usability and establishing a unified design system, creating a scalable foundation for ongoing product development.
Task
Create an enhanced web‑tool software that utilizes Microsoft’s branding standards to help attract and engage significantly more users throughout the organization, improving overall visibility and adoption, and long‑term internal product success.
Action
Discovery research, system audits, and empathy‑mapping clarified user needs and friction in the legacy tool. These insights shaped the new IA, wireframes and design system, resulting in a cleaner, more scalable platform with an improved content‑ingestion workflow.
Result
Following the launch, the findings of the qualitative research indicated that the level of satisfaction among users had increased, primarily because the design of the product was less obtrusive, and it allowed users to have greater control.
Discovery
I conducted foundational research to understand how teams interacted with the legacy system, identifying friction points and opportunities for improvement.
System audit
To comply with the new design direction Microsoft Hits was audited to identify areas where changes could be made.
Workshops
To enhance our user experience, I engaged in empathy mapping workshops which gave me an immersive opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of our target audience.
Information architecture
I restructured the navigation and content hierarchy to reduce cognitive load and make key workflows easier to discover and complete.
Wireframe flows
Collaborating with stakeholders, I created low to medium fidelity wireframes as a strategic tool to extract valuable insights and better understand the intricacies of the design goals.
Visual design
I applied Microsoft’s design principles to create a cleaner, more accessible interface that supports clarity, consistency, and long‑term scalability.
UI exploration
By considering every element of the wireframes and incorporating relevant design elements, I was able to ensure that the resulting mockups were both visually appealing and functional, bringing the wireframes to life and providing a clear representation of the final product.
Design system
I crafted a series of reusable UI components that could be seamlessly integrated throughout the product design cycle so we could maintain a consistent and streamlined user experience.
UI specs
To promote smooth and efficient teamwork during the implementation of the design system we decided to use Redline documentation as a way of communicating important information about the structure and functionality of all components.
Product shipped
The final release delivered a modernized research platform that improved usability, reduced friction, and enabled teams to work more efficiently.
Content ingestion editor
This customizable tool facilitates the ingestion, editing, and collaborative management of UX research content for Microsoft, providing valuable insights and data to the organization.
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