PROJECT OVERVIEW
SecBuzzer Network Detect & Response (NDR) service supports 20+ organizations to detect and respond to cyber threats effectively.
As the sole designer in a cybersecurity startup, I led UX for B2B platform redesign, collaborated with product managers and R&D engineers to streamline navigation and improve rapid response to security events.
DURATION
4 months
(Dec. 2021 - Mar. 2022)
PLATFORM
SaaS (Cybersecurity)
ROLE
UX designer
Worked with:
2 Product Managers
3 Developers
TASK
Competitive Analysis
User research
UX design
Usability testing
Presenting
Stakeholder-
communication
RESEARCH
PROBLEM
Organizations must actively track cybersecurity events, but busy users often neglect complex dashboards, resulting in missed threats and delays.
User survey revealed that the way information was presented and designed affected user retention and their willingness to make future purchases.
61%
Rated Low Satisfaction
Users expressed their struggles and confusion when using the current platform.
56%
Found poor navigation and readability
Over half of the users struggled with navigating the platform and found dashboard's readability lacking.
72%
With low engagement
The majority of users failed to engage with the platform daily, reflecting its limited ability to integrate into users' daily workflow.
50%
Mediocre Experience: Retention Risks
Half of users rated low effectiveness and satisfaction, leading to inconsistent usage and reduced trust in the platform.
CHALLENGE
CHALLENGE
How might we streamline monitoring process to enhance responsiveness?
How might we streamline monitoring process to enhance responsiveness?
💡 Behind the change—Content hierarchy to improve user flow
Top-level features and critical information for quick access.
Secondary features that provide lower-priority information.
All the detailed, less urgent, and more granular data on the innermost pages.
Second-level
Dashboard
(First Priority)
Third-level
SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS
Redesigned the dashboard's information architecture with visualized data, streamlined user flow to help users access critical information efficiently.
Before
After
Dashboard's Information Architecture
01
Based on user research, we identified and prioritized information needs by urgency during a cybersecurity incident, using data visualization to help users quickly grasp key information.
Information Architecture
Consolidated related information into unified sections to streamline the hierarchy and enhance organization.
Data Visualization
Merged IPs into a single visualized section, using color for clarity and distinction.
Simplification
Simplified overall UI and removed less relevant data.
・
・
・
・
Added text bubbles/tooltips
Tooltips were introduced in "Ticket Status", "Alerts", and IPs to provide contextual information for icons and graphics, helping users navigate multiple categories without needing to recall them each time.
Platform's Overall User flow
02
Our research identified another user pain point: difficulty finding information via dashboard links. We reorganized the page structure and feature links under each main menu on the dashboard to improve intuitiveness and accessibility.
Before
After
💡 Why the change? —Breaking barriers to engagement
Users struggled to navigate the dashboard and find information.
An overload of irrelevant information overwhelmed users and hindered key tasks.
The lack of visualized data and reliance on numbers increased users' cognitive load.
After
Added text bubbles/tooltips
Tooltips were introduced in "Ticket Status", "Alerts", and IPs to provide contextual information for icons and graphics, helping users navigate multiple categories without needing to recall them each time.
・
・
An overload of irrelevant information overwhelmed users and hindered key tasks.
Information Architecture
Consolidated related information into unified sections to streamline the hierarchy and enhance organization.
Merged IPs into a single visualized section, using color for clarity and distinction.
Simplification
Simplified overall UI and removed less relevant data.
・
・
Data Visualization
💡 Why the change? —Breaking barriers to engagement
Users struggled to navigate the dashboard and find information.
The lack of visualized data and reliance on numbers increased users' cognitive load.
Before
After
💡 Behind the change—Content hierarchy to improve user flow
Top-level features and critical information for quick access.
Secondary features that provide lower-priority information.
All the detailed, less urgent, and more granular data on the innermost pages.
Second-level
Dashboard
(First Priority)
Third-level
As a designer, this project effectively enhanced the startup’s focus on UX, leading to 3+ UX-focused monthly meetings for future products.
🙁Enhance terminology consistency across different interface languages
🙁Simplify icons to more clearly reflect represented categories
Suggested Improvements
🙂Smoother navigation
🙂Enhanced readability and improved decision-making support with visualized data
Positive Feedback
🙂Intuitively enhanced interface
Through interviews and follow-up surveys, we received overall positive feedback on the more intuitive and simplified experience, leading to a 15% increase in satisfaction ratings and increased engagement with the platform.
TEST, RESULTS & IMPACT
Heuristics Evaluation and Cognitive Walkthrough by the team were performed by the team to evaluate and test before rolling out the update.
RESEARCH
Who Are The Users?
Our product focuses on network security within healthcare organizations, including medical centers and hospitals. Our primary users were identified as healthcare information managers—busy, security-focused professionals who are often on the go.
My work is usually really busy. I'd like to check the dashboard with my laptop or phone, but there’s just too much information to read.
"
"
—Participant at medical center
User Journey
By revisiting user journeys and combining insights from user interviews, our study revealed users' frustration with the information architecture, which hindered quick overviews.
Insights from User Survey
Satisfaction rate of features
(conducted by survey, n=18 in both Q3&Q4)
Limited Time:
Users are often occupied with work and have limited time to engage.
Information Access and Prioritization:
While cybersecurity is critical for hospitals, users typically focus on the overall status rather than diving into detailed information.
Data Presentation:
Users find dashboards filled with plain numbers cumbersome, as it takes time to scan and interpret, data visualization is preferred for quicker insights.
Add guide/user manual for first-time users
2025 by celia tsao
2025 by celia tsao
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VISUAL SYSTEM
VISUAL SYSTEM
As the startup has not previously explored the creation of a unified visual design system, I took initiative to design and implement a comprehensive visual system to address this gap.
As the startup has not previously explored the creation of a unified visual design system, I took initiative to design and implement a comprehensive visual system to address this gap.
REFLECTION & NEXT STEP
Our team have not stopped but continued to work on more redesigns in order to improve the overall user experience, and as our very first iteration, the engagement rate increased more than 15% in the following months, we also received fair feedbacks from users that the dashboard had been easier for them to use, and that the information was clearer than before, which made their access more smooth and quicker.
As for my own thoughts on this project, I’ve learned a lot while collaborating with the R&D team, especially on how to implement open-source components and deliver design specification. Although we might have agreed on certain ideas during iteration, in reality, some ideas were not able to work their ways to the final stage, this did not mean the idea wasn’t great, but that in the process of team design and communication, it is not always possible to achieve consensus, and some design ideas may be ideally great, but are not always technically feasible under constraints.
However, valuable learning and insights can be gained from the conflict of ideas, often leading to the discovery of innovative and novel solutions. This, in my opinion, is a fantastic aspect of the process! :)
PROJECT OVERVIEW
SecBuzzer Network Detect & Response (NDR) service supports 20+ organizations to detect and respond to cyber threats effectively.
As the sole designer in a cybersecurity startup, I led UX for B2B platform redesign, collaborated with product managers and R&D engineers to streamline navigation and improve rapid response to security events.
OVERVIEW
ROLE
TASK
Competitive Analysis
User research
UX design
Usability testing
Presenting
Stakeholder-
communication
PLATFORM & STATUS
DURATION
4 months
(Dec. 2021 - Mar. 2022)
SaaS (Cybersecurity)
Shipped
UX designer
Worked with:
2 Product Managers
3 Developers
PROBLEM
Organizations must actively track cybersecurity events, but busy users often neglect complex dashboards, resulting in missed threats and delays.
User survey revealed that the way information was presented and designed affected user retention and their willingness to make future purchases.
61%
Rated Low Satisfaction
Users expressed their struggles and confusion when using the current platform.
56%
Found poor navigation and readability
Over half of the users struggled with navigating the platform and found dashboard's readability lacking.
72%
With low engagement
The majority of users failed to engage with the platform daily, reflecting its limited ability to integrate into users' daily workflow.
50%
Mediocre Experience: Retention Risks
Half of users rated low effectiveness and satisfaction, leading to inconsistent usage and reduced trust in the platform.
SecBuzzer Dashboard
Information Architecture Redesign
SecBuzzer
Dashboard Information Architecture Redesign
Redesigned a cloud-based cybersecurity platform to streamline workflows.
Redesigned a cloud-based cybersecurity platform to streamline workflows.
SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS
Redesigned the dashboard's information architecture with visualized data, streamlined user flow to help users access critical information efficiently.
Dashboard's Information Architecture
01
Based on user research, we identified and prioritized information needs by urgency during a cybersecurity incident, using data visualization to help users quickly grasp key information.
Before
Platform's Overall User flow
02
Our research identified another user pain point: difficulty finding information via dashboard links. We reorganized the page structure and feature links under each main menu on the dashboard to improve intuitiveness and accessibility.
🙁 Enhance terminology consistency across different interface languages
🙁 Simplify icons to more clearly reflect represented categories
Suggested Improvements
🙂 Smoother navigation
🙂 Enhanced readability and improved decision-making support with visualized data
🙂 Intuitively enhanced interface
Positive Feedback
Through interviews and follow-up surveys,
we received overall positive feedback on the more intuitive and simplified experience, leading to a 15% increase in satisfaction ratings and increased engagement with the platform.
TEST, RESULTS & IMPACT
Heuristics Evaluation and Cognitive Walkthrough by the team were performed by the team to evaluate and test before rolling out the update.
As a designer, this project effectively enhanced the startup’s focus on UX, leading to 3+ UX-focused monthly meetings for future products.
RESEARCH
Who Are The Users?
Our product focuses on network security within healthcare organizations, including medical centers and hospitals.
Our primary users were identified as healthcare information managers—busy, security-focused professionals who are often on the go.
My work is usually really busy. I'd like to check the dashboard with my laptop or phone, but there’s just too much information to read.
"
"
—Participant at medical center
User Journey
By revisiting user journeys and combining insights from user interviews, our study revealed users' frustration with the information architecture, which hindered quick overviews.
Insights from User Survey
Satisfaction rate of features
(conducted by survey, n=18 in both Q3&Q4)
Limited Time:
Users are often occupied with work and have limited time to engage.
Information Access and Prioritization:
While cybersecurity is critical for hospitals, users typically focus on the overall status rather than diving into detailed information.
Data Presentation:
Users find dashboards filled with plain numbers cumbersome, as it takes time to scan and interpret, data visualization is preferred for quicker insights.
REFLECTION & NEXT STEP
Our team have not stopped but continued to work on more redesigns in order to improve the overall user experience, and as our very first iteration, the engagement rate increased more than 15% in the following months, we also received fair feedbacks from users that the dashboard had been easier for them to use, and that the information was clearer than before, which made their access more smooth and quicker.
As for my own thoughts on this project, I’ve learned a lot while collaborating with the R&D team, especially on how to implement open-source components and deliver design specification. Although we might have agreed on certain ideas during iteration, in reality, some ideas were not able to work their ways to the final stage, this did not mean the idea wasn’t great, but that in the process of team design and communication, it is not always possible to achieve consensus, and some design ideas may be ideally great, but are not always technically feasible under constraints.
However, valuable learning and insights can be gained from the conflict of ideas, often leading to the discovery of innovative and novel solutions. This, in my opinion, is a fantastic aspect of the process! :)