Stage 1. Plan Research
Defining Research Goals: Validated design updates and identified usability concerns.
Method Selection: Chose usability testing and user interviews.
Participant Recruitment: Recruited channel partners and system management engineers.
Preparation: Developed interview guides and usability test scenarios.
Stage 2. Conduct Research
Usability Tests & User Interviews: Conducted sessions on five key topics: familiarity with Orchestrate, installation support materials, workflow creation, workflow monitoring, and desired features.
Stage 3. Analyze Data
Data Analysis: Performed qualitative and quantitative analysis, categorizing findings by theme and severity.

User Journey Map: Mapped user actions and emotions across each stage of deployment and workflow management.

Research Reports: Produced reports to guide product strategy, design updates, and engineering priorities.
Stage 4. Generate Insights
Research Summary Presentation: Shared research outcomes with cross-functional teams (designers, product managers, engineers, researchers, and other stakeholders).
Team Collaboration: Partnered with teams to prioritize issues, define requirements, and design research-driven solutions.
Key Observations
Support Documents
⚠️ Issue: Users were overwhelmed by excessive documentation, with missing critical information.

🛠️ Recommendation: Simplify documentation with visuals and short videos.
Workflow Monitoring
⚠️ Issue: Devices were difficult to find when grouped together.

🛠️ Recommendation: Use labels, tags, color coding, and prioritization features.
Access Restriction
⚠️ Issue: All users could edit workflows, creating risks
🛠️ Recommendation: Implement role-based access control.
Runtime Data
⚠️ Issue: Slow loading times for past activity; usage patterns were unclear.

🛠️ Recommendation: Show workflow success/failure directly and track runtime data usage.
Conclusion
Results & Impact
Validated Orchestrate’s core value and uncovered usability gaps that shaped design and feature enhancements.
Gathered authentic user feedback that guided product strategy and ensured alignment with real-world workflows.
Next Steps
Conduct additional interviews and usability tests to evaluate new iterations, validate improvements, and continue shaping Orchestrate into a user-centered product.
