Brocade, a leading provider of data center hardware such as servers, routers, and supporting tools, sought to enhance its customer support and digital infrastructure. With a network of certified installers and resellers, Brocade aimed to streamline its systems to better serve a diverse customer base, including database administrators, marketing teams, and finance professionals. The project for Brocade, now part of Broadcom, focused on improving responsiveness, integrating tools, and creating a scalable digital experience to support their growing business needs.
Innovating Digital Infrastructure to Enhance CX
Brocade
The Client Project
The Challenge
Brocade faced significant challenges with its fragmented IT systems, which were heavily customized over time. This customization led to inefficiencies, making it difficult to integrate tools and respond quickly to customer needs. The client wanted to reduce reliance on custom development, improve system agility, and create a unified portal for customers, resellers, and internal teams. Success was measured by the ability to deliver a scalable, integrated solution that could support rapid content updates, complex identity management, and seamless user experiences across diverse stakeholder groups.
The Solution
The solution involved a strategic shift from customization to configuration, leveraging existing tools to create a more agile and scalable infrastructure. Key steps included:
- Stakeholder Listening Sessions: Engaging with internal teams to understand pain points and requirements.
- System Audit: Evaluating existing tools and identifying gaps in integration and functionality.
- Persona Refinement: Narrowing down 20+ personas to core user groups to tailor the portal experience.
- Content Strategy: Developing a dynamic, permission-based content delivery system to serve diverse stakeholders.
- Roadmap Development: Creating a long-term plan to align technology upgrades with business goals.
The Outcome
The project successfully provided Brocade with a clear roadmap to modernize its digital infrastructure. By leveraging an existing platform, the client was able to reduce reliance on custom development and improve system agility. The solution enabled Brocade to deliver personalized, permission-based content to customers, resellers, and internal teams, enhancing the overall user experience. The recommendations were well-received, positioning Brocade to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving market.
My Role
As the lead UX strategist, I managed stakeholder workshops, conducted system audits, and developed wireframes to demonstrate how a unified portal could serve diverse user groups. Leveraging my IT management background, I designed a permissioning schema aligned with Brocade’s identity management system. My role also included presenting evidence-based insights to justify the shift from customization to configuration, ensuring buy-in from key stakeholders. This case study highlights how strategic UX and IT insights can drive digital transformation, enabling businesses to scale efficiently and deliver exceptional customer experiences.
SUMMARY
Experienced Researcher and Digital Strategy Lead with a proven track record in design thinking, user research, and data-driven design. Skilled in quantitative and qualitative research methods, market research, prototyping, customer engagement including surveys, focus groups, and remote/in-person testing. Expertise in product development, user experience design, and digital transformation with a strong technical aptitude in RStudio, Figma, responsive Web frameworks, Unreal Engine, and Unity. Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams, deliver scalable solutions, and communicate insights effectively to diverse stakeholders.
