//Problem
Contentstack (CS) users found it difficult to find, access, and utilize the content crucial to their work while performing their daily tasks.
//FYI
Contentstack
Initiative Owner
Role
6 months
Duration
//Goal
My aim was to elevate user productivity and trust by reducing friction in core content workflows by designing and executing a multi-dimensional strategy.
//Team
Engg: Manish, Harshal
PM: Martin, Dhaval
Design: George, Prashant
Version numbering is not sufficient, not easy to find versions we’re looking for
"
Customer Quotes
"
It's really hard to know what version number we want, be we do know roughly a date when a version we're looking for was live
//Problem
Entry editors faced unnecessary friction and wasted time in the version selection dropdown because of no context and lack of data while identifying and selecting a previous version.
//Goal
eradicate the feeling of frustration and uninformed decisions
//Research
Direct feedback from 8 key customers (key=Large usecases, extensive workflows)
User feedback from internal Researcher (5 sessions with various numerous customers)
//Scope
eg. KLM=7,00,000 entries, Lego=1500+ stacks each with >1000 entries
//Solution
Introducing a timeline based Version history panel to replace the Dropdown list of versions. Introducing features like Search & Filters allows easier navigation.
//Rejected ideas
Showing meta data for every version in the dropdown.
Using a modal for version selection.
//Rationale
More Context requires more data which will occupy more real estate on screen.
Version Selection must retain original simplicity.
// Good ideas come from a mess. //
“Are we over engineering this?” //Internal feedback
Considering the amount of meta data & scalability, having the timeline seems optimal. //Tesler's Law
Resolution
Current mental model of users expects version switching from page header.//Internal feedback
Since the overall positioning is same, it would be easier for the users to adapt to this change without hindering their mental model. //Mental Model
Resolution
Feedback
Cannot show all the data of the version across all locales. //Technical constraint
I prioritised version creation related data to be shown upfront, rest inside micro timeline as secondary data.
Resolution
Search functionality couldn’t be implemented in time.//Technical contraint
I took a call to implement that as a hot fix immediately after release as it wasn’t a blocker for proposed solution.
Resolution
Constraints
Improved editorial experience for over 60% of our users by solving this ‘Top customer issue’ whilst directly creating a positive impact for 8 of the 15 critical customers by resolving their major pain point.
Impact
Kaustubh as Product Designer
Accomplished a future-proof design foundation for version tracking, measured by resolving 100% of identified user pain points while ensuring seamless, zero-effort integration with major upcoming features (viz. Auto Save).
Bonus
The search is TERRIBLE! I can't find anything :(
"
Customer Quotes
"
The list page should give a clear indication that it is currently showing entries from its fallback language.
//Problem
Users faced inconsistency and
friction in the main content (entry) list and search bar while trying to
quickly narrow down and locate specific content.
//Goal
restore consistency and reliability to content retrieval across the platform.
//Research
External User feedback (13 participants,
72 sessions, 77 highlights)
internal User feedback (Customer
success team, solutions architects)
//Insights
contrast in behavior & opinions between our legacy users & new users.
//Solution
Updated the language filter to have granular controls.
Changed table default state to show only localized entries for the selected language.
Implemented 'keyword search' as we already used Elastic Search and the module was readily available.
//Tough call
Changing default state was necessary but to make things easier, I added user preferences as a fall back for legacy users.
My intention was to condition the users towards simplified IA.
//Rationale
Changing default would surprise half the user base.
Retaining current default state will perpetuate the confusing IA.
Having preference satisfies both.
Accomplished a successful 50/50 user conflict resolution and platform modernization, measured by reducing IA-related support inquiries by 80% and maintaining 99.8% legacy user retention, by deploying a strategic preference toggle that satisfied both user segments.
Impact
Kaustubh as Product Designer
The new users showed positive adoption with over 60% of the users retaining the new default state as a preference.
Bonus
Although ‘Views’ are highly useful, there are limitations to collaboration on views.
"
Customer Quotes
"
Difficult and time consuming onboarding experience for new team members.
//Problem
Users faced hidden efficiency drains & inconsistent manual workflows in cross-team collaboration due to lack of options to share specific filtered content views with colleagues.
//Goal
proactively elevate team efficiency and
workflow standardization
//Research
Internal documents & artifacts (PRDs, JIRA tickets, Confluence documents & Condens reports)
External workflows (content sharing workflows in other applications)
//Scope
50+ internal documents
Hundreds of customer reports
Competitive analysis of similar workflows
Competitive Analysis
I conducted my own research to verify requirements.
Report
//Similarities
Sharing with certain groups
Two choice levels: 'Edit' or 'Read only'
Admin Only controls: Ownership, Permissions
Dedicated storage repository
//Differences
No rigorous edits in our case
Update for all: Four eyes principal not required in our case, User can update for all or update for self in a new view
Transfer ownership does not require the recipient to accept, they just get notified
//Scope
2 dictinct App workflows analysed
5 Key capabilities Evaluated
//DifferEntiators
Our views are exclusively for internal teams
strong offline collaboration exists in our Target User cases
Views management not part of the scope, available bandwidth is also limited for implementation.
Constraint
I negotiated for a simpler views management flow instead of the elaborate one to make sure it is not skipped altogether.//Teslar's law
Decision
In app notifications going through a revamp hence inefficient.
I took a call to use email notifications in addition to in app notifications for additional support.
Decision
Constraints
Accomplished the standardization of cross-team content collaboration & maximized efficiency, measured by achieving a 70% feature adoption rate within 60 days by proactively designing and deploying a zero-to-one native solution that delivered immediate, indispensable value.
Impact
Kaustubh as Product Designer
Initiated conversation for prioritising Views management 2.0
Bonus