Tracking Usage with IBM Software Central

As a Lead UX Designer on the Red Hat Marketplace team, I spearheaded the development of IBM Software Central—a unified platform enabling IBM customers to monitor and manage their software usage effectively. This initiative addressed the need for a centralized system to track software consumption, ensuring compliance and optimizing resource allocation.

This project was instrumental in my promotion to Senior UX Designer and receiving my first Outstanding Technical Achievement award at IBM.

My early dashboards ideas for usage tracking

Usage dashboard A (Copy)

Usage dashboard B (Copy)

Usage dashboard C (Copy)

Product usage page (Copy)

My Role

Vision Development: Crafted a strategic vision for a comprehensive software usage metering experience, securing critical executive support for the project.
Design Execution: Led the design process from conceptualization to the delivery of final assets, collaborating closely with visual design and development teams.
Cross-Team Collaboration: Facilitated design requirements gathering with IBM software and sales teams to align the platform with diverse user needs.
Strategic Coordination: Worked with business development, senior leadership, and marketing to ensure cohesive branding and positioning of Software Central.
Consensus Building: Communicated design direction and intent to unify the core team and executive leadership around the project goals.

Delivered example mid-fi design updates

Products reporting usage (Copy)

Bundled product usage (Copy)

Switching usage metrics (Copy)

Single product usage (Copy)

Key Challenges and Solutions

Software Usage Metrics

Challenge: Navigating the complexities of software entitlements and usage metering to design an intuitive user experience.
Solution: Conducted extensive research on software entitlements, balanced IBM's branding considerations, and prioritized features to address immediate customer needs.

Establishing a Unified Vision

Challenge: Developing a compelling vision to gain organizational buy-in for a new software usage metering platform.
Solution: Created strategic vision presentations and user flow demonstrations, leading to executive endorsement and project initiation.

Current IBM Software Central designs

Software Central home (Copy)

Single Product Usage (Copy)

Bundled Product Usage (Copy)

Child Product Usage (Copy)

Deliverables

Design Artifacts: Produced lo to mid-fidelity designs illustrating product reporting, bundled product usage, metric switching, and single product usage views.
Strategic Presentations: Developed vision playbacks and user flow narratives to communicate the platform's value proposition and functionality.

Impact

The successful launch of IBM Software Central provided customers with a centralized hub to track and manage usage, leading to:

Enhanced Compliance: Improved accuracy in usage reporting, aiding customers in maintaining compliance and reducing overages.
Operational Efficiency: Streamlined processes for monitoring software consumption, facilitating better resource management.