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Case Study Presentation

We Built the Intelligence. Nobody Knew It Existed.

Anuja Harsha — Lead Product Designer

DSML Hub · Cloud Software Group — WebFOCUS

Case Study 003

WeBuilttheIntelligence.NobodyKnewItExisted.

Not assigned — invented. Pitched the vision. VP approved. Owned all three workflows end-to-end.

Role & Expertise

Lead Product Designer (End-to-End Ownership)

Timeline

Spring 2024 – Spring 2025

SHIPPING 2027

Company

Cloud Software Group — WebFOCUS

Act I

Three Powerful AI Features. <5% Adoption.

Millions invested. <5% adoption. Three AI features nobody could find.

NLQ buried inside "Explore Data." Insights in a submenu. ML in a separate context. <5% adoption on millions in engineering investment. The problem wasn't quality — it was visibility.

This wasn't on a roadmap. My PM and I seized it during product consolidation talks. Dozens of concept mockups. Weekly FigJam sessions across timezones. Our Director of Design started sketching his own ideas mid-pitch. VP approved. We owned it.

Four Decisions That Shaped the Plugin

Smart Integration

3 separate entry points

Built inside the Hub. Zero new infrastructure.

One Entry Point

3 scattered menus

One destination. One click.

Consistent Patterns

Each feature felt different

Learn one, know all three.

Mobile-First

Desktop-only features

First Hub app designed responsive.

Act II

Modernizing the Building Blocks

Before unifying, I modernized. Terminal UI → Apple UI.

NLQ: bare text field, cryptic errors, zero guidance. Insights: dense data grids, no context. Both felt like command-line tools dressed in web UI.

From Terminal UI to Apple UI. Suggested queries. Conversational errors. Scannable cards. Layered disclosure — approachable on the surface, powerful underneath.

I already owned ML from my other case study. When the Hub opportunity came, I had all three building blocks ready.

User Personas

2 personas created from scratch. 2 inherited from existing research. All 4 mapped into the unified system.

Tech Visionary

TECHNICAL

Needs direct model parameter access and keyboard-first navigation.

Financial Strategist

BUSINESS

Needs one-click insight generation and plain-language explanations.

Analytics Innovator

DEVELOPER

Needs consistent component behavior and debuggable error states.

Techy Analyst

POWER USER

Needs self-service workflows and shareable, repeatable queries.

Four personas, one interface. Solution: layered progressive disclosure that surfaces simplicity by default while keeping power accessible on demand.

Act III

Architecture Before Tickets

PM wrote tickets after seeing my mockups. That's how I operated.

Architecture before tickets. Mockups before meetings. That's how I operated throughout.

The decisions:

•Smart integration — inside the existing Hub. Zero new infrastructure.
•One entry point. Three scattered menus → one destination.
•Consistent patterns. Learn one, know all three.
•Fully responsive. First Hub app designed mobile-up.

I owned all three features — no audit needed.

Building the System

From hand-drawn sketches to system flowcharts — the structural foundation that makes three complex features feel like one.

Sketches · 3 pages

PDF

Early sketches exploring how NLQ, Insights, and Predict Data could live together.

First concept mockup — testing the unified hub layout.

Navigation patterns, information hierarchy, and feature discoverability.

Architecture Diagrams

User journeys across NLQ, Insights, and Predict Data — all paths connect through unified dataset selection.

How IQ Plugin fits within the WebFOCUS Hub — one-click access from the workspace.

Select once, use across all three features. Eliminates redundant data picking.

Enterprise BI on any screen — all three features work seamlessly across devices.

Act IV

Four Iterations to the Final Hub

Four iterations. One navigation fight. I won.

The biggest fight: large tiles vs. list views. Veteran architects wanted lists. My argument — lists caused the low adoption. Tiles gave immediate context. I won.

From Concept to Production

The Unified DSML Hub

Ask, Analyze, Predict — unified under one roof.

The unified DSML Hub: Ask, Analyze, Predict

Current Workflows (Public)

NLQ (Natural Language Query)

Automated Insights

ML Functions (Predict Data)

Unified

Unified DSML Hub (Password Protected)

Password Protected

Click to unlock

Before

●Three separate entry points
●Different patterns for each feature
●Users had to hunt for features
●Intimidating for business users

After

●Single unified entry point
●Consistent patterns everywhere
●All DSML in one place
●Approachable for all users

Unifying Fragmented Workflows

legacy_view

modern_view

CURRENT: PLUS_MENU → EXPLORE_DATA

IQ_PLUGIN: ONE_CLICK_ACCESS

Natural Language Query (NLQ)

legacy_view

modern_view

CURRENT: PLUS_MENU → INSIGHTS

IQ_PLUGIN: ONE_CLICK_ACCESS

Automated Insights

legacy_view

modern_view

IQ Plugin ML - Same Hub as NLQ and Insights

CURRENT: REPORTING_SERVER → ML

IQ_PLUGIN: ONE_CLICK_ACCESS

Machine Learning (Predict Data)

Design System Components

Shared design system used across all three case studies. A unified language for coherence.

Color Palette

Artifact 01 of 24

Act V

The Room Full of Veterans

Decades of tenure across the table. Two years in. Driving the conversation.

Every team meeting was a room full of veterans — 20 to 30+ years at WebFOCUS. The only other new person was my PM. We onboarded together.

The conversation that mattered most: integrating the ML workflow into the IQ Plugin. I fought for myself. Industry examples. Interaction logic. Visual prototypes. My Director of Design trusted me to make my own case.

Two years in. Everyone else — decades. I was driving the conversation.

Owned All Three DSML Workflows.

Meetings didn't exist—I created them. Role shifted from "designer on IQ" to DSML experience owner.

Orchestration

Created the collaboration structure · Looped in Hub PM who wasn't connected · Weekly syncs with Principal DS

Visibility

Workflow diagrams for complexity · Videos showing broken flows · Trade-offs made explicit

Role Shift

Designer on IQ → DSML owner · NLQ + Insights + Hub unification · Influence matched PM on UX

“"Her prototype walkthroughs became the foundation for key product decisions." — Karishma Khadge, Senior Product Manager”

Act VI

Visibility Was the Solution

+25% NLQ adoption — from discoverability alone. Not feature changes.

We didn't add capabilities. Didn't rewrite the engine. We made it visible.

Live now: NLQ +25% adoption. Insights with auto-generated visualizations. Both modernized.Shipping: DSML Hub → 2027. ML Functions → 2026.

The features didn't change. The visibility did. Highest-leverage design work: making existing features findable.

Consolidation as a Feature

+25% NLQ Adoption

Just by making NLQ visible in the Hub — no feature changes. Discoverability alone drove a meaningful adoption increase.

3 → 1 Entry Point

NLQ, Automated Insights, and ML Functions brought under one roof. Users no longer had to hunt across different platform areas.

First Responsive Hub App

The first fully responsive application in the Hub ecosystem. Set the standard for all future Hub integrations.

Foundation Enabled Handoff

Architecture was so well-defined that 2 designers continued execution on my foundation after I transitioned off the project.

Voice of the Team

“Anuja led UX design initiatives with remarkable creativity, empathy, and precision. She consistently demonstrated a deep understanding of user-centered design and the ability to translate complex product requirements into intuitive and visually engaging experiences. What truly stands out is her collaborative spirit and problem-solving mindset.”

Karishma Khadge—Senior Product Manager

“Anuja made a significant impact modernizing UX across our legacy enterprise products. She brings a rare combination of strategic thinking, design intuition, and the ability to work seamlessly across product, engineering, and business teams. Anuja is bold in her ideas and consistently proactive in turning complex problems into practical, user-centered solutions.”

Vijay Raman—VP of Product Management