Strategic thinking, Product vision

Strategic thinking, Product vision

Use case driven centralized data integration

Use case driven centralized data integration

Rethink the data integration experience from product based approach to use case driven approach that revolutionizes the onboarding experience — integrate with external data in one product.

Rethink the data integration experience from product based approach to use case driven approach that revolutionizes the onboarding experience — integrate with external data in one product.

About

Timeline

Role

Team



Company

Timeline

Role

Team


Company

Timeline

Role

Team

Company

06/2024 - 09/2024

Product design lead

1 Designer, 1 Researcher, 1 PM,

2 Engineer leaders

Splunk

06/2024 - 09/2024

Product design lead

1 Designer, 1 Researcher, 1 PM, 2 Engineer leaders

Splunk

Contributions

Leading the research effort to identify the biggest pain point in data integration.

Facilitating cross-functional and cross-team collaborations to create the product vision.

Impact

Rethink the product vision to help the team establish their north star, strengthening the strategic position of Splunk's data management products in the market.

The
Problem

Users don't know which product to choose for data integration

Product based integration

Product based integration

Don't know the difference between products

Don't know the difference between products

Various aspects to consider

Various aspects to consider

Don't have comprehensive knowledge about these aspects

Don't have comprehensive knowledge about these aspects

User
Needs

Think about data integration within the entire data management ecosystem

Started from user research: To understand the user expectations for data onboarding using product A.

Started from user research: To understand the user expectations for data onboarding using product A.

But found out that users don’t care about which product to use, but what use case to achieve.

But found out that users don’t care about which product to use, but what use case to achieve.

Strategy
Shift

From product based approach to use case driven approach

Centralized integration

Centralized integration

Unify the different products into one

Unify the different products into one

Guide with use case

Guide with use case

Recommend the integration method based on use cases

Recommend the integration method based on use cases

Product
Vision

Use case driven centralized approach — integrate with external data in one product

Centralized management for data integration

Centralized management for data integration

Keep track of all types of data integration in one place.

Keep track of all types of data integration in one place.

Centralized onboarding guided with use case

Centralized onboarding guided with use case

Recommend the best method to integrate with external data based on the use cases that users want to achieve.

Recommend the best method to integrate with external data based on the use cases that users want to achieve.

Unified dataset management

Unified dataset management

Unify the schema and terminologies of different types of dataset, creating a cohesive experience and enabling a consistent search experience.

Unify the schema and terminologies of different types of dataset, creating a cohesive experience and enabling a consistent search experience.

📂 Business impact

💪 Enhances the strategic position of Splunk's data management products by enabling stakeholder alignment among 5 product areas.

🔔 Informs the 2025-2026 roadmap prioritization on the unified Data Management North Star.

🙎🏻 User impact

🤝 Direct user validation ensures that the product vision is closely aligned with real-world needs.

🫶 The centralized data integration experience provides a cohesive solution.

↔️ Expands key use case coverage from 9 to 20 within one unified product.

Other case studies

Other case studies

Onboarding flow to connect with external data

Dashboard for monitoring drilling data

Designed by Xinyue Liu in 2025

Designed by Xinyue Liu in 2025

Designed by Xinyue Liu in 2025