SystemVision
As a leader in electronic design automation, Mentor Graphics sought to completely redesign its SystemVision application, a single design exploration and optimization environment supporting powerful verification and analysis capabilities for challenging multi-discipline designs. Early simulation using the SystemVision tool allows designers to make design decisions regarding component tradeoffs, find design mistakes, and verify their designs before PCB layout.
In migrating the application to the cloud, a proposed community platform would wrap around the editing experience, facilitating collaboration and crowd-sourced problem solving. Gamification was interwoven into the experience that spoke to the "inventor's" propensity for tinkering, while the provision of a robust library of designs kickstarted enthusiasts, makers, and professionals alike to tap into their spirit of play.
Challenges:
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Maintaining core audience loyalty in the Automotive and Aerospace industry, while expanding to a much broader audience that appealed to small businesses, academia, hobbyists and tinkerers .
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Integrating a community component within the experience that stayed out of the way when necessary.
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Rebranding and modernizing the User Interface in such a way that supported some major feature upgrades and additions
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Optimize an overly crowded workspace that had no clear sense of context.
Roles:
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Principal User Experience Strategist
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User Researcher
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Information Architect
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Ix Design
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Content Strategy
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Information Design
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Visual Design
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assist on Product Mgmt & Business Analysis
Prototype:
Community Landing Page
A rapid prototype of the community page allowed us to quickly gain alignment within our stakeholder group, and validate our approach, which centered around a blend of Personalization (what was I working on when I left? what are my special interests that filter my content?), Community, and Gamification.
screenshot of interactive wireframe/prototype for Community Landing page
Visual Designs
A visual design strategy that was conceived of that was largely centered around re-branding and modernizing the SystemVision application itself, but that also was symbiotically coupled with the Community experience it supported.
Success Metrics
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Successful optimization of 5-6 core task flows within the System Vision experience, based on contextual workflows/tasks, improved completion by 35% in A/B tests.
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Complete re-org of Component Library, with an emphasis on discoverability, vastly improved usablity.
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SystemVision Community enrollment exceeded overall benchmarks by 65%, with an an enrollment spike of 8,000 users at time of launch.
