Redefining Splunk's product experience from a federation focus data onboarding flow to a unified, end-to-end data management platform.
About
Timeline
Role
Team
Company
06/2024 - 09/2024
UX lead
2 Designers, 1 Researcher, 1 PM,
2 Engineer leaders
Splunk
Contributions
Leading the research effort from workshop design and participant recruitment to analysis.
Facilitating cross-functional and cross-team collaborations to develop and refine the product vision.
Impact
Redefines the product vision to help the team establish their north star, strengthening the strategic position of Splunk's Federation and GDI products in the market.
Product vision
Data integration approach
Transforming from a basic data onboarding flow to a comprehensive data integration approach.
Unified data management vision
Shifting from a narrow federation perspective to a unified data management vision.
Outcomes
Reframes product vision
From the basic onboarding flow to a unified data management solution, expanding stakeholder buy-in and market potential.
Shapes product roadmap
Applies the JTBD (Jobs-To-Be-Done) framework to surface high-impact opportunity areas and shape the product roadmap.
Creates research playbook
A JTBD playbook that enables adoption of a new research framework across multiple product areas.
From onboarding flow to data integration approach
My research initially focused on improving the onboarding flow for external data sources. I identified a critical gap: data integration extends beyond mere onboarding, users need a holistic, seamless solution that addresses the entire data integration lifecycle.
From federation focus to data management vision
Splunk Federation focuses on accessing external data without full ingestion. I recognized a broader opportunity: users don't just want federation, they want a unified data management platform that covers all types of data access capabilities.
Selecting the appropriate data integration solution remains the primary challenge
Users primarily struggle with choosing the right solution for external data integration: fully ingesting the data or using Federation (without full ingestion). Their main goal is selecting an integration approach that aligns with their data strategy, which requires comprehensive decision-making support.
1). Users have to evaluate both solutions without comprehensive knowledge of each option.
2). The federation and ingestion solutions exist as two separate products, which contradicts users' expectations.
Strategic shift from federation only to a unified data management solution
Discovering the opportunity to expand beyond federation to include other data integration approach, I pivoted my research toward a unified data management solution.
Understanding user expectations for data management
I conducted a two-phase research study to understand: 1) user expectations for data federation, and 2) general user needs for data access within the broader data management ecosystem.
1). Interactive workshop with target users
I conducted an interactive workshop with users that enabled collaborative job map creation and real-time discussion. This included 1 walk-up session and 2 focus groups with 10 target users at the company's annual conference. The approach yielded deeper user insights and stronger engagement, ultimately generating richer data and building user buy-in for the new approach.
2). Validation workshop with cross-functional partners
I facilitated a cross-functional discussion where product, engineering, and design teams collaboratively validated the Job Map, uncovering key gaps and opportunities while establishing shared ownership of the new vision. As a result, I expanded the Job Map to cover the entire data management ecosystem beyond data federation, aligning with users' broader data strategy.
Defining a unified, end-to-end data management platform
A single pane of glass for data management that covers the end-to-end data integration journey—from identifying the right solution and preparing data to onboarding, validation, adjustment, and monitoring. This broader perspective helped align both the team and stakeholders around this more ambitious goal.
High level Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD)
Captures the user jobs and goals for accessing external data that aligns with their broader data management needs.
Gaps & Opportunities
Guides with use cases
Proactively recommend tailored solutions for specific use cases and provide clear guidance for each data access option. This empowers users to make confident, informed decisions aligned with their broader data strategies.
Integrated onboarding
An integrated onboarding flow that captures all data access capabilities and works across all current data integration solutions (Federation & Ingestion), serving as the single designated pathway for connecting with external data sources.
Unified schemas & terms
Standardize schemas and terminologies across all current data integration solutions is key to delivering a truly unified data management platform that simplifies configuration, ensures consistency, and creates a seamless user experience.
Centralized management
After initial onboarding, the platform should seamlessly connect validation, monitoring, and adjustment processes to streamline the data integration lifecycle, making the entire data management in one centralized platform.
Roadmap
Vision & Design
Exploring the product vision of a unified, end-to-end data management platform.
Product vision in a glimpse
Concept design
Centralized onboarding guided with use cases
A unified onboarding flow that covers all data access capabilities. Guides from defining use cases through receiving recommended solution to configuring data access, all within one seamless experience.
Unified data source management
The ultimate vision for the unified data management platform, where all integrated data sources with different data access capabilities will be seamlessly managed in one place.
📂 Business impact
💪 Enhances the strategic position of Splunk products within the data management ecosystem, enabling stakeholder alignment among 5 product areas.
🔔 Informs the 2025-2026 roadmap prioritization that supports the Data Management North Star with a systematic focus on the data integration experience.
📖 Creates a JTBD research playbook that was adopted by 4 other teams, establishing best practices and extending UX impact across the entire Product & Technology organization.
🙎🏻 User impact
🤝 Direct user validation ensures that the product vision is closely aligned with real-world needs across federation and ingestion scenarios.
📦 Delivers a seamless experience through jobs-driven design, bridging gaps in the data integration journey and creating a more cohesive, holistic solution.
↔️ Expands use case coverage from 6 to 11 by systematically addressing the data access job, establishing a flexible framework that accommodates any new data source integration.
