Unlocking LCD Device Adoption Through Integration
My Role
Sole Product Designer User Testing
Collaborators
Software Firmware Support Stakeholders InformaCast
Problem Space
Customers integrating with our largest software partner (InformaCast) were not purchasing our LCD devices because there was no practical way to use advanced features like images, video, and rich text styling within their existing workflow.
Our biggest challenge was fitting our product into a complex platform with its own architecture, workflows, and priorities. Every decision had to balance partner requirements, customer needs, and the technical constraints of both platforms.
Solution
ANetD builds multi-function wall displays for daily timekeeping, routine announcements, and emergency alerts. To better connect our hardware with InformaCast, a partner mass-notification platform, I led the UI/UX design for a custom integration plugin. This tool brought ANetD's visual display controls directly into InformaCast's workflow, allowing administrators to design custom layouts with text styling, imagery, and flasher programming, and export them as ready-to-trigger templates.
Defining the Workflow
Before designing, I turned four user flows into storyboards and documented click counts. This surfaced risks such as users losing work if they forgot to save in InformaCast. Testing also showed that workflows with the fewest clicks caused the most confusion because they required users to break established habits, so I prioritized familiarity and error prevention over fewer clicks.
Information Architecture for Mixed Device Environments
Customers often manage multiple device types with different capabilities, so I centered the architecture around device selection. Users can quickly switch between devices using a top selector on the canvas. This automatically updates the preview and editing menu, ensuring users only see options relevant to their selected device.
Streamlining Repetitive Work
Because most installations include multiple display sizes, reducing duplicate effort became a key design goal. I prioritized workflows that included template selection, automatic image resizing, and streamlined copy-and-paste workflows to make creating content across devices significantly more efficient.
Reflection
This project reinforced that faster workflows are not always better workflows. Users often value predictability and control more than raw efficiency, and designing around existing mental models can reduce confusion even when it adds a few extra steps.