ALYSSA JONES

Users and goals:

• Security IT admins (primary): understand file activity at a glance, identify trends, monitor compliance, and share insights with non-technical stakeholders

• C-suite leadership (secondary): one overriding question — is this investment worth it?

Research - round 1:

Semi-structured interviews with 8-12 participants, combining open-ended discovery with concept testing of draft visualizations. Four key pain points emerged:

• Inconsistent terminology across the data

• No consensus on which metrics and charts mattered most

• Gaps in the useful data being surfaced

• No clear path to share insights with non-technical leadership

Synthesis & iteration:

Findings were synthesized and presented to stakeholders in a formal slide deck. Feedback crystallized into four themes driving the next iteration:

• Conveying value: designs needed to more explicitly surface the protection and ROI Glasswall delivers

• Dashboard organization: layout and hierarchy restructured to reflect how admins prioritize their data

• Clarity of text and nomenclature: terminology revised to match the language customers actually use

• Clarity of data and visualizations: chart types added and removed based on what users found valuable versus confusing

Research - round 2:

A second round of interviews with returning and new customers validated the revised designs. Key outcomes:

• Customers confirmed the changes felt meaningfully improved

• Revisions to terminology, organization, and visualizations resonated well

• Minor concerns remained, none requiring significant redesign

Findings were again presented to stakeholders and directly informed the final designs handed off to development.

Design outcome

A comprehensive data visualization dashboard serving both security IT admins and C-suite stakeholders:

• Summary dashboard surfacing key metrics at a glance

• File processing trend charts to help admins identify patterns and anomalies

• Threat and risk visualizations, making Halo's security value immediately visible

• File type breakdowns for granular insight into what was being processed

• Exportable reports for sharing digestible summaries with non-technical leadership

The feature was released in phases, with core components shipping first.

Impact & reception

Response from customers and internal stakeholders was positive. Glasswall Halo went on to win Security Innovation of the Year at the UK IT Industry Awards 2024, with the dashboard as part of the product recognized in that honor.

 

The dashboard also quickly became a platform for further development, with customers requesting follow-on features built directly on the foundation established: filtering and date range controls, additional chart types and metrics, and sharing and export enhancements. The volume and nature of these requests confirmed it had landed as a core part of the Halo experience, not a one-time feature.

Reflection:

A rigorous, research-driven process led to a meaningful addition to a flagship product. One thing to do differently: involve engineering earlier. Some design compromises were required due to database limitations that, had they been known sooner, could have been designed around. Engineering input is valuable throughout, not just at handoff.