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[Case Study 02]
Designing for Action in IBM Cloud
IBM
SREs can now have more control in the cloud.
[Problem]
System Reliability Engineers (SREs) using IBM Cloud have no way of automating the start and stop of a VSI (Virtual Server Instance), leading to wasted time and unnecessary costs.
I designed a Start/Stop feature that gave SRE’s more control and flexibility over their cloud.
[My Role]
Lead Researcher
[Team]
1 UX Designer
1 Researcher
[Contributions]
Research
User testing
Protoyping
[Timeline]
2023
Here’s the gist
My PM introduced me to our persona (and client) Sean, an SRE.
Currently, if Sean wants to start or stop a VSI, he has to do it manually—via automation scripts or by logging into the console every time.
For SRE’s managing dozens (or even hundreds) of instances, this gets pretty tedious, pretty fast. It’s not just time-consuming—it opens the door for human error. And because there’s no built-in way to schedule these actions in advance, users are left piecing together their own workarounds.
Getting started: I met with our PM to learn more about our customer
My PM introduced me to our persona (and client) Sean, an SRE.
Currently, if Sean wants to start or stop a VSI, he has to do it manually—via automation scripts or by logging into the console every time.
For SRE’s managing dozens (or even hundreds) of instances, this gets pretty tedious, pretty fast. It’s not just time-consuming—it opens the door for human error. And because there’s no built-in way to schedule these actions in advance, users are left piecing together their own workarounds.
Sean
Site Reliability Engineer
“Right now, if I forget to shut down an instance after testing, it just keeps running and racks up costs. Having a way to schedule start and stop actions would save me time and give me peace of mind”
Sean’s Responsibilities
Monitor state of infrastructure or applications proactively
Respond to incidents reactively while “on call”
Set up automations for self-healing and resource or cost optimization
Sean’s Challenges
Increased costs
Resource waste/inefficiency
Missed deadlines
This also creates several gaps for IBM.
Without a current way to start/stop VSIs, customers were facing inefficiency and increased costs, which led to IBM lagging behind competitors, dealing with more technical support tickets, and losing customer trust. Addressing this gap was not only a usability win but also a business opportunity to strengthen IBM’s market position.
Identifying user needs
Based on my conversation with my PM, I created 3 key user needs to ensure the Start/Stop design directly addressed real user frustrations.
As an SRE, I need a simple way to start or stop VSIs so that I can reduce unnecessary cloud spend.
As an SRE, I need visibility into the current state of my VSIs so that I can avoid confusion + mistakes when managing resources
As an SRE, I need to schedule when my VSIs start or stop so that I can automate routine tasks and save time.
Taking a closer look at the competitive landscape
I took a look at a few competitors to see how they were handling instance management.
Key insight: Competitors treated automation as a baseline feature, while IBM clients were taking manual workarounds.
I sketched initial iterations of what this could look like
When sketching ideas, the main idea here was to show how users could quickly evaluate the validity of the content using a heatmap, and without leaving the page.
Creating an initial user flow
The flow highlights the key tasks users need to complete:
- Navigating to their VSI list
-Scheduling an instance with custom settings
-Review summary and billing information
-Viewing VSI status
Wireframing
I designed and presented a few iterations of how a user would 1) schedule a VSI and 2) view current status
Next steps
After my playback to the team, I handed off the wireframes and outlined clear next steps for the team to take. (Update: It’s part of their 2025 Fall plan!)
Iterate
Refine the wireframes based on feedback, especially around edge cases
Testing
Validate initial designs with PMs + SREs to ensure designs are solving the main problem
Business Alignment
Connect with key stakeholders on additional justifications: 1) Cost savings for customers 2) Strengthened client relationship 3) Decreased support tickets
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