Streamlined Configuration
Designing a platform that simplifies complex infrastructure setups into a faster, more consistent experience.
Designing a platform that simplifies complex infrastructure setups into a faster, more consistent experience.
Role: Senior UX Designer - Lead designer
Timeline: Oct 2021 - May 2022
Team: 2 designers, 4 PMs, 4+ engineering teams
Scope: Cluster-level host configuration management, compliance workflows, and transition from Host Profiles to desired-state configuration
Timeline: Oct 2021 - May 2022
Team: 2 designers, 4 PMs, 4+ engineering teams
Scope: Cluster-level host configuration management, compliance workflows, and transition from Host Profiles to desired-state configuration
My Role
- Took over as lead UX designer during a critical phase
- Designed key workflows for editing, pre-checks, and compliance, including error handling flows that gave admins clear guidance and a direct path to fix issues when problems were detected
- Partnered with PMs and engineers to prioritize, refine workflows and keep both usability and technical needs aligned
- Led accessibility reviews and ensured compliance
- Used research findings to improve validation, error messages, and navigation
- Tied up loose ends from earlier design work, filling gaps, clarifying missing details, and aligning the whole system into a consistent experience.
- Co-authored U.S. Patent Application (US20250021344A1) with VMware engineering team as a UX contributor.
- Designed key workflows for editing, pre-checks, and compliance, including error handling flows that gave admins clear guidance and a direct path to fix issues when problems were detected
- Partnered with PMs and engineers to prioritize, refine workflows and keep both usability and technical needs aligned
- Led accessibility reviews and ensured compliance
- Used research findings to improve validation, error messages, and navigation
- Tied up loose ends from earlier design work, filling gaps, clarifying missing details, and aligning the whole system into a consistent experience.
- Co-authored U.S. Patent Application (US20250021344A1) with VMware engineering team as a UX contributor.
Project Background
For years, VMware admins used Host Profiles to set up and manage host configurations. A host profile was basically a “template” taken from one host (called the reference host) and applied to others.
In theory very powerful, but in practice it caused a lot of frustration mainly because if the reference host wasn’t set up correctly, mistakes spread across the cluster. Profiles also went out of sync easily, and the error messages gave little guidance, leaving admins stuck in trial-and-error loops.
As one admin put it:
“I spend more time fixing my host profiles than actually patching my hosts.”
With vSphere 8, VMware introduced Cluster Configuration Manager, a new approach that used a clear, editable document to define host settings for the whole cluster. Instead of using a reference host as the template, which often carried over problems to the whole cluster, admins could directly edit and validate configurations with better visibility and feedback.
In theory very powerful, but in practice it caused a lot of frustration mainly because if the reference host wasn’t set up correctly, mistakes spread across the cluster. Profiles also went out of sync easily, and the error messages gave little guidance, leaving admins stuck in trial-and-error loops.
As one admin put it:
“I spend more time fixing my host profiles than actually patching my hosts.”
With vSphere 8, VMware introduced Cluster Configuration Manager, a new approach that used a clear, editable document to define host settings for the whole cluster. Instead of using a reference host as the template, which often carried over problems to the whole cluster, admins could directly edit and validate configurations with better visibility and feedback.
Old Host Profiles required manual checks by administrators to verify compliance.
New Config Manager with simplified management allowing configuration edits directly in the vSphere Client UI.
The Change We Were Aiming For
We wanted to replace Host Profiles with a tool that:
- Treated configuration like a living document, something admins could edit, review, and retry safely
- Made drift detection (when hosts fall out of sync) easy to understand at a glance
- Gave clear and actionable error messages
- Kept familiar terminology such as Pre-check and Remediate, carried over from Host Profiles, so admins could recognize the process and feel confident adopting the new tool
- Treated configuration like a living document, something admins could edit, review, and retry safely
- Made drift detection (when hosts fall out of sync) easy to understand at a glance
- Gave clear and actionable error messages
- Kept familiar terminology such as Pre-check and Remediate, carried over from Host Profiles, so admins could recognize the process and feel confident adopting the new tool
Who We Were Designing For
With vSphere 8, we wanted to replace Host Profiles with a new Configuration Manager that:
- Treat host configuration like a living document - it let admins edit, validate, and retry without losing work
- Made drift detection understandable at a glance
- Error handling to be clear, human, and actionable
- Built trust for admins moving from the old tools
- Made drift detection understandable at a glance
- Error handling to be clear, human, and actionable
- Built trust for admins moving from the old tools
What User Pain Points We Were Addressing
- Cluster setup took hours using Host Profiles
- Too much trial and error with little guidance (error messages that didn’t explain how to fix issues)
- No easy way to apply exceptions or make small changes
- Compliance drift that caused downtime and extra troubleshooting
Admins told us they wanted three things: clarity, control, and confidence.
- Too much trial and error with little guidance (error messages that didn’t explain how to fix issues)
- No easy way to apply exceptions or make small changes
- Compliance drift that caused downtime and extra troubleshooting
Admins told us they wanted three things: clarity, control, and confidence.
Challenges
When I joined the project, engineering was already blocked because UX flows were incomplete. Important parts like error handling, validation, and overrides were not defined. Documentation was scarce, so I often had to piece together the reasoning behind earlier design decisions or make new decisions without context.
This left engineers waiting on UX to move forward. Combined with tight deadlines and high expectations, there was real pressure to quickly bring clarity and unblock the team.
This left engineers waiting on UX to move forward. Combined with tight deadlines and high expectations, there was real pressure to quickly bring clarity and unblock the team.
The Process
My first step was to sit with engineering and go through where they were blocked. We mapped out missing pieces in the workflows, prioritized their needs, and set a clear direction. This immediately unblocked progress and built stronger trust with the team.
From there, I:
- Designed key workflows for editing, compliance, validation, and remediation.
- Led accessibility reviews to ensure support for magnification and screen readers.
- Applied usability testing insights to improve copy, error messages, validation flows, and navigation.
- Synced often with PMs and engineers to balance usability with technical feasibility.
Iterated quickly to keep delivery on track under tight deadlines.
From there, I:
- Designed key workflows for editing, compliance, validation, and remediation.
- Led accessibility reviews to ensure support for magnification and screen readers.
- Applied usability testing insights to improve copy, error messages, validation flows, and navigation.
- Synced often with PMs and engineers to balance usability with technical feasibility.
Iterated quickly to keep delivery on track under tight deadlines.
The Good Stuff :)
The best part of this project was the partnership with engineering.
When I joined, they helped me get onboarded, and by unblocking them, I helped the whole team move forward. It was a real two-way collaboration: we synced often, set priorities together, and solved critical issues early.
This team was highly motivated and cared deeply about usability. They even joined me in accessibility reviews to ensure we didn’t create barriers. Their empathy for users and willingness to engage in UX discussions made collaboration not just productive, but inspiring.
It showed how powerful outcomes are when design and engineering share the same values: usability, accessibility, and user trust.
When I joined, they helped me get onboarded, and by unblocking them, I helped the whole team move forward. It was a real two-way collaboration: we synced often, set priorities together, and solved critical issues early.
This team was highly motivated and cared deeply about usability. They even joined me in accessibility reviews to ensure we didn’t create barriers. Their empathy for users and willingness to engage in UX discussions made collaboration not just productive, but inspiring.
It showed how powerful outcomes are when design and engineering share the same values: usability, accessibility, and user trust.
The Outcome
- Launched the Cluster Configuration Manager in vSphere 8 tech preview.
- Delivered workflows for importing from a host, editing drafts, validating, and applying at cluster scale.
- Usability testing showed admins found drift detection easier to understand, overrides more flexible, and remediation more reliable.
Admins reported more confidence:
“I’d finally feel safe rolling this out across my production clusters.”
- Delivered workflows for importing from a host, editing drafts, validating, and applying at cluster scale.
- Usability testing showed admins found drift detection easier to understand, overrides more flexible, and remediation more reliable.
Admins reported more confidence:
“I’d finally feel safe rolling this out across my production clusters.”