Simplifying data access
Unifying 3 products into 1Customers were managing storage infrastructure across three separate consoles by repeating the same setup tasks, with no unified way to access data stored in different storages. I led a cross-functional team of 10 to design a cohesive console experience that unified setup and access across all three services.
Launched at AWS re:Invent 2025, the unified console experience cuts cross-service infrastructure setup to a single guided flow, allowing customers to scale access for large datasets in seconds.
01 Who and why. Two personas, three separate consoles, and constant context-switching revealed the need for a unified data access experience.
Research
I synthesized 6 customer calls, 3 sales calls, and 30+ survey responses to map two personas, their journeys, and their core pain points.
Target personas
Storage admins spend too much on third-party integrations and duplicate data just to connect services. Developers repeat identical tasks across consoles because there is no unified way to access data.
Pain points
No unified view of access points across storage services, no way to create access points connecting to file systems from the console, and constant page-hopping to view and manage resources.
02 Product scoping. I mapped the user journey into prioritized stories that drove a scope decision: what ships at launch vs. what waits. This aligned the team on the three flows that mattered most.
User stories
The full story map exposed 20+ user needs across three services. This gave the team a shared view of the full scope and allow us to draw launch boundary.
User flows
I mapped each priority flow end-to-end, illustrating how each flow fits into the overall experience.
03 Design iteration. Internal testing exposed a critical flaw: stringing multiple API calls caused partial failures with no clear recovery path. I advocated for a UX pattern that surfaces all required steps during creation, resolving both the usability and durability issues. Follow-up testing validated the pattern.
Exploration
During internal testing, the creation flow broke mid-way when one API in the chain failed. Customers found it frustrating that they lost their input and had no way to tell what succeeded and what didn't.
Trade-offs
The original sequential flow was simpler to build but fragile. Surfacing all steps upfront added complexity to the UI, but gave customers a clear picture of what was required and let the service call one API at a time.
Decision
I pushed for a pattern that displays the full list of required steps during creation. Each API call runs independently, so a single failure doesn't cascade. Follow-up testing proved the pattern was clear and robust.
04 Outcome
A unified console for customers to set up and manage cloud infrastructure across three storage services.
Streamlined infrastructure setup
Storage admins can now set up their infrastructure directly within the AWS console. No more third-party applications needed.
Unified data operations
Developers can now view and manage all the data operations and security-related tasks in a single console. No more switching among storage services.
