JAMIE FONG


Revolutionizing a cybersecurity platform



Momentum Design Lab × Resilience



2023



my role





Product Designer



the team





2 Designers
2 Delivery Leads
1 UX Director



Timeline





4 months



shipped





July 2023



outcome





100%



Users



Expressed enthusiasm for using the portal during usability testing and were excited to use the product.



$100 MM



funding secured



Resilience shipped this new platform in May 2023 and secured $100 million in series D funding in August 2023.



5 STAR



Rating



Perfect rating provided by the client for our exemplary work. The team’s ability to understand a complex and technical problem space was specifically called out, on which I led the effort in translation from technical understanding to the design.



OVERVIEW





As part of a lean, cross-functional team, I played a lead role in the strategic redesign unifying Resilience's cybersecurity, insurance, and risk management offerings into a cohesive platform. Under a tight 4-month timeline, we aligned stakeholders to break down silos and establish an extensible product foundation.


Through accelerated design cycles and intense collaboration, our team delivered an innovative solution praised by the client and users. The launch directly enabled Resilience to secure $100M in new funding. This high-impact initiative showcased my skills in crafting unified product visions from complex ecosystems, stakeholder alignment, and technical execution, which were critical in propelling Resilience's competitiveness.



Project Goals



CREATE A NEW PRODUCT FOUNDATION



Partnering with a fellow lead designer, we unified the visions of executives, user needs, and our design expertise - defining an innovative product strategy with a scalable architecture.



IDENTIFY AND ADDRESS USER NEEDS AND POINTS OF FRICTION



Through user research, I uncovered key friction points and needs across customer journeys. These insights directly informed design decisions.



INCREASE USER ENGAGEMENT



I applied best practices in UX design, information architecture and interaction patterns, to craft an intuitive experience within the portal. 100% of participants expressed enthusiasm for using the portal during usability testing.



assumptions



The following key factors guided my decision-making and approach as a designer



1.



It was Resilience's first deep exposure to a user-centered design process, so we had to be especially mindful how we facilitated the workshop and structured the feedback sessions.



2.



There were misalignments among stakeholders around prioritizing features and capabilities for the product roadmap that I needed to help reconcile.



3.



Beyond just execution, Resilience looked to us for strategic consultation in identifying untapped areas of opportunity to further build out their product's value proposition.



ROADMAP REVIEW





Because the client did not want to focus on their current state, I opted to conduct a roadmap review In place of a heuristic review.


I identified areas of opportunity across 10 aspects of the platform, based on competitor research, industry trends, and key goals identified by the Resilience team during product vision discussions.


With these goals and opportunities identified, we were able to focus on areas of highest impact and expose areas for improvement that may not have been immediately seen as important.



Goals and areas of opportunities identified for the support experience. A screenshot of the current state is displayed on the right.



research





The first few weeks of the project was spent in immersion with the product and the context it sits in. I had to learn about the cybersecurity industry, the client company, and their product deeply and quickly.



Method



My fellow designer and I conducted semi-structured interviews to gain a deep understanding of users’ goals, everyday workflows, and hurdles. We took turns facilitating and note-taking during interviews. Subject matter experts and security users with varied experience and levels of responsibility were interviewed.



Interviews



Session length: 1 hr

Total interviews: 14



Participant Profile



CISO

Security Operator CFO

Risk Manager



Participant ratio



User interviews: 9

SME interviews: 5



limitations



We were not able to directly interview CFOs and Risk Managers, but were able to interview SMEs and people who worked with them closely



findings



I used affinity mapping to synthesize the data collected from the interviews, uncovering and presenting 8 findings, which helped the team align on product vision and build a strategic roadmap for the future.



Top findings:
  • Data accuracy and legitimacy is key to building trust with Resilience
  • Security professionals are looking to 'check the box' and be able to easily report this
  • The human element of Resilience makes the user experience
  • There were mixed sentiments on providing transparency to an insurance company
  • Customers rely on Resilience’s expertise and guidance, and look to the team and the portal to provide best practices and standards.


Workshop





2 days
San Mateo, CA



My design partner and I led a strategic workshop for 14 key decision-makers (including CEO, CMO, and CTO) from the Momentum and Resilience teams.

The workshop established a shared understanding of the problem space and unified vision for product direction on the basis of both user and business needs.

Activities I facilitated included:

This workshop resulted in comprehensive user personas, documented user goals, and customer journey maps, which directly informed the product's ideation and design phases.


Personas



Four personas were developed during the workshop based on the research. We modified the Jobs to Be Done framework to identify key objectives, expectations, thoughts, and opportunities for each.



Nick gonzalez



Security Specialist



"Give us a little bit of information, [about] what the exact issue is ... I think that would be [very] much beneficial and save everyone time"



vijay patel



Senior Security Officer



"It’s a double edged sword ... up to which point [do] you want your cyber insurance company [to] know your infrastructure or...events thats happening on your infrastructure"



james young



CFO



"Give me the numbers”

"Whats the ROI for buying this tool?"



Jennifer Newton



Risk Manager



"What's my value at risk?"



Insights



Through user research, roadmap review, competitive analysis, and the workshop, I contributed to identifying 14 key areas for improvement in the user experience and defining global design principles. This resulted in a strategic roadmap for the product's future, with a well-defined scope that focused our design efforts.





Global Design Principles



AGENCY OVER DATA



Allow users to self-report and make modifications to their information, with the ability to access into granular levels of detail.



HUMAN-IN-THE-LOOP



The experience should ensure that customers feel valued and respected, striking a balance between personalized help and efficient self-service.



BREAK SILOES & DRIVE INTEGRATION



Help teams feel confident talking about financial impact by enabling effortless collaboration during each phase to maintain cyber resilience within the organization.



PRIVACY



Never ask something from the customer if they can’t see immediate value. The application only requests information that is deemed to have tangible value to the customer.



PROGRESS TRACKING



Help security professionals track their impact and advocate for themselves by providing metrics that showcase improvement over time.



EDUCATION AND DEMOCRATIZATION



Make it easy for technical and non-technical users to understand their risk posture and act immediately by providing context and expert insights in a comprehensible way.



Design





Designs were based on insights gathered from the research and workshop. Feedback was provided from the client twice weekly. Iterations were rapid and done on a story-by-story basis.



information architecture



We presented three distinct concepts that each had their own strategic approach to navigating the website. I worked on the proposal that took an approach that would be more familiar to what users would be used to seeing.


Final information architecture



A simplified version of the final information architecture



Wireframes



To develop the wireframe stories, every component of our information architecture was divided into 26 distinct narratives. Each of these stories illustrates the key use cases and journey of the information, outlining the actions that the user must undertake to complete a task. Our objective was to integrate all the insights we gained from the workshop, initial user interviews, product roadmap, and agreed-upon principles to assist our client in visualizing the new direction of their portal.



Blockframe



Homepage



We started out by blockframing the most critical aspects of the experience to determine how to lay out the most relevant information that the user needed to see on that page.



Wireframe



Cyber Action Plan



The Cyber Action Plan was the main value proposition and most critical part of the product. This is where users can see what actions they can take to reduce their risk posture and therefore garner more favorable insurance terms. It went through multiple rounds of iteration and feedback.



Wireframe



Cyber action plan details



Education was a major need for the security operator, who looked to Resilience for their expertise. Being able to drill down into action items and provide guidance was important for their success. Meanwhile, providing financial numbers was important for Senior Security Officers to advocate for these measures within the organization.



Wireframe



Policy Details



It was often the risk manager's job to purchase and manage the cyber insurance policy. Showing how the security team's efforts directly supported the risk manager's goals fostered collaboration between the two, normally siloed departments.



Wireframe



Signals



This was a section of the platform I advocated for and got buy-in from the client by mocking it up. It was vital for security operators that they could see the data input being used to determine the risk calculated by the AI algorithms. Giving them the ability to not only view the data, but the agency to update it for accuracy, was crucial for gaining trust and buy-in from security teams.



visual design





Once the most critical and complex aspects of the experience were flushed out in the wireframes, two visual design directions were determined. I developed Concept A to align very closely with the existing brand guidelines, while Concept B's aim was to use the brand guidelines as inspiration for a more premium look and feel.



Concept A. The goal was to align very closely with the existing brand guidelines.



Concept B. Brand guidelines were used as inspiration for a more premium look and feel.



Example of concept A applied.



Example of concept B applied.



Usability Testing





To ensure that our design was effective and user-friendly, we developed a usability test with tasks to test out the clickable prototype with existing users. We were able to validate our designs and make necessary adjustments based on user feedback. Our users were particularly enthusiastic about the new portal experience, as they found it intuitive and meeting their needs for collaboration within their organizations.



Usability Sessions



Session length: 45 min

Total sessions: 5



participant profile



Senior Security Officer

Security Operator



limitations



We were not able to test with CFOs and Risk Managers. Testing was geared towards security users.



findings



After synthesizing feedback across usability sessions, my design partner and I prioritized addressing critical user pain points in the final product iteration. We also documented longer-term opportunities as future roadmap considerations.



For the imminent launch, our key focus areas included:

  • Adding more in-context tooltips throughout the experience
  • Making data visualizations more interactive for further exploration
  • Revisiting the use of color and direction of gradients in data visualizations for easier understanding


Final Designs





outcome





Through our partnership with Resilience, technical security and IT teams are not only able to understand the financial implications of each risk, but also leverage the portal as a tool to communicate and align internally on cyber risk.



100%



Users



Expressed enthusiasm for using the portal during usability testing and were excited to use the product.



$100 MM



funding secured



Resilience shipped this new platform in May 2023 and secured $100 million in series D funding in August 2023.



5 STAR



Rating



Perfect rating provided by the client for our exemplary work. The team’s ability to understand a complex and technical problem space was specifically called out, on which I led the effort in translation from technical understanding to the design.



Reflection





What went well



Even though the client was new to working with the design process, they put a lot of trust in us and we were able to collaborate effectively.


The insights from the in-person workshop was deeply appreciated and highly valued by the client and acted as a very strong anchor throughout the project.


The rapid feedback cycle allowed for multiple iterations in a short period of time, resulting in a closely aligned outcome.



What could have been improved



Sourcing participants proved difficult with the tight time frame.


Next time, I would start pushing for recruitment earlier and scheduling extra participants in order to talk to everyone from our target participants.​




What I learned



I learned how to come up to speed quickly and deeply during this project.


I had just started a new job and needed to acclimate to the processes quickly. I also needed to learn about a new industry simultaneously.


During this project, OpenAI launched GPT 3. I learned how to quickly adapt this revolutionizing technology and started to leverage generative AI in the design process.