Forward Enterprise Security Application
Deliver comprehensive and dependable network management solutions to strengthen the organization's security infrastructure.
Deliver comprehensive and dependable network management solutions to strengthen the organization's security infrastructure.
Forward Networks develops a desktop-based network verification and management tool for network operators and engineers, pioneering in Software Defined Networking (SDN). The company focuses on creating agile, predictable, and secure networks.
The Forward Enterprise Security App enables companies to monitor network security health alongside basic management and verification. This robust tool helps network and security engineers oversee all aspects of their organization’s network to ensure reliable operations. Forward Security is the most promoted application on Forward Enterprise.
Forward Networks primarily targets Fortune 500 companies with large, complex networks. Until 2021, its core product was a comprehensive network management platform designed to ensure network stability and reliability.
How can Forward Networks expand the application to cover more use cases and attract a broader user base?
Starting in 2021, the company implemented a strategic plan to develop a network security monitoring applications.
Security is critical for customers' network health.
Network security is important for large and complex organizations to ensure operation is reliable and safe.
Security aligns with the company’s goal of building a comprehensive, reliable network monitoring solution.
Security app could attract more customers to the platform.
Network security's complexity stems from its technical aspects and diverse use cases. I approach the design by deeply understanding the technology and its applications.
I collaborated with the PM to analyze use cases from our user research, identifying common goals and information across diverse network security needs. Considering Forward Network's objectives and capabilities, we targeted two main user groups and narrowed the network security information to three primary types.
A comprehensive dashboard to visualize and summarize large networks security information effectively.
Provide accessible, handy, and enough details to users to debug issues in network
Verify and validate changes made to the network security to ensure smooth network updates.
Provide key network security insights while supporting network monitoring, troubleshooting, and change management.
The team conducted brainstorming sessions to figure out how to present Security Connection in a network, and compared different solutions in engineering cost vs. user experience.
Then I constructed a comprehensive IA for the application, connecting different features and information together as a whole.
Realizing the complexity of the app from IA, the team decided to break the launch into 2 phases.
Streamlined tasks, easy to understand information organization.
A frequent use case involves opening a security connection to view details. Based on our research, I designed a details page that provides comprehensive information to meet user needs.
Based on usability testing results and engineering feedback, I created a second iteration of the design that simplifies the page content for easier information retrieval and understanding.
