challenge:

User research exposed that creating an Azure Quantum workspace was difficult, costly, and confusing, leading to frustration and abandonment. Initial usability testing on Azure Quantum workspace creation and first quantum job submission showed all seven participants – spanning quantum explorers, innovators, practitioners and researchers – failed to set up a workspace utilizing the existing workflow and supporting documentation, preventing them from submitting their first quantum job.

goal:

Gain user trust, harness engagement and mitigate abandonment. Standardize workflows and components to the Azure framework design system. Design a more efficient, intuitive experience through clear, common interaction patterns and calls to action and enable a more accessible and comprehensive understanding of benefits, requirements and process to use Azure Quantum computing.

process:

Cross-functional collaboration, User research, Data-driven design, Design socialization, Design system documentation, User-facing documentation, and Iteration

results:

Through iterative research, design and cross-functional collaboration with product management and engineering we achieved some dramatic results in a short time. 

• Improved documentation and standardization to Azure’s Fluent design system alone improved workspace creation and first quantum job submission success rate from 14.9% to 35%

• The creation and introduction of the Quantum credits program, offering a free and accessible quantum computing simulation option. - details

• Simplified Terms of Service acceptance by consolidation of multiple provider agreements into a single decision.

• Created a quantum workspace quick-create path, leveraging all the above benefits and reducing complex, costly decisions that can be edited post creation—boosted workspace completion rates from 35% to over 70%

advanced create:

quick create:

my role:

User research, Design, Design socialization and cross-collaboration with Quantum Researchers, Product Management, Engineering teams and Azure Product Management, Branding, User Research and Design teams.

challenge:

User research showed that the Overview page and Getting Started content was confusing and overwhelming, making it hard for first-time users to know where to begin. Four out of five quantum researcher study participants chose a more complex “Local configuration" / command line method over a much simpler notebook template option through Azure Quantum UI. Experienced users also struggled to find the Credits/Quota Utilization and Job Activity data, as their placment co-located with Getting Started content confused both new and returning users.

goal:

Highlight an easier pathway to submit a first job using notebooks in Azure Quantum UI. Revise page messaging and page design to better delineate between first run, subsequent use, and highly advanced options.

process:

Cross-functional collaboration, User research, Data-driven design, Design socialization and team workshops, Design system documentation, User-facing documentation, and Iteration.

results:

• The removal of obstacles highlighting the primary first-run call to action, resulting in a 3X higher job submission rate of success.

• Quota usage was redesigned and moved from Overview page to Operations side menu and co-located with credit usage and Job usage content. This presented a more intuitive ingress point and a more holistic view of usage.

• Text revisions and Azure framework alignment enabled more concise guidance and enabled a higher user confidence and trust with better user comprehension.
  

my role:

User research, Design, Design socialization and workshop leader, Cross-collaboration with Quantum Researchers, Product Management, Engineering teams and Azure Product Management, User Research and Design teams.

challenge:

User research showed that while the sample gallery had a clear purpose, users struggled to find relevant content and navigate the workflow process using the samples. Many found it hard to access the more advanced samples, leading to low engagement with the page and fewer job submissions from the gallery.

goal:

Create a clear, engaging content layout that progressively adapts based on user history. Help users learn taxonomy, structure, and processes while guiding them through completing tasks and quantum job submissions using provided samples.

process:

I led and fostered a cross-functional UX research driven design culture. This enabled design socialization and inclusion through usability studies and design led workshops, and provided clarity in user-centric strategic vision. I worked with Azure’s Ibiza design system team to best align with known patterns and designed a number of new components and patterns for Azure Quantum’s users needs.

results:

• Added introductory "Hello World" samples, with 85% of users agreeing with the statement that “Sample Gallery is integral to learning, exploration and understanding of Azure Quantum's offerings” for them.

• Renamed and repositioned the Notebook Gallery as a more interactive "Sample Gallery," and added a tagline — this improved engagement by providing a clearer call-to-action

• Notebook categorization, and a more intuitive ordering of samples with Hello world examples first.

• Better alignment with Azure Ibiza design framework to benefit from know patterns for better usability and easier engineering documentation.

• Created an inline provider selection component variant that additionally highlighted inline Azure Quantum’s provider-agnostic approach.
  

my role:

User research, Design, Design socialization and workshop leader, Cross-collaboration with Quantum Researchers, Product Management, Engineering teams and Azure Product Management, User Research and Design teams.

goal:

Enable users to easily understand their credits and quotas usage per workspace and subscription, and in relation to their selected provider plan, and provide easy access to upgrade / increase amounts.

results:

The Credits and Quota dashboard experience was redesigned to display a standardized presentation of total quantity of units of measurements per quantum provider, as well as the associated costs and the ability to increases and upgrade plans as needed. Working cross-functionally with product management I helped craft a credit program, that alleviated some of the initial financial strain on organizations. Users first-run funding conversations were simplified with the credit program and enabled by the redesigned dashboard experience. Users could now account for quota availability and credit usage, apply for grants, request upgrades and more easily plan for future projected costs and funding discussions.

my role:

User research, Design, Design socialization and workshop leader, Cross-collaboration with Quantum Researchers, Product Management, Engineering teams and Azure Product Management, User Research and Design teams.