CMS | Website building tool
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By redesigning the configuration panel with a structured UI panel, we gave non-technical marketing teams full autonomy to build. Eliminating developer dependancies and streamlining production workflows across the organisation.
Problem
Solution
Context
The configuration panel grew organically into an unstructured flat list of technical settings. Noticing that many of the support tickets were related to basic layout tasks, I proactively audited the workflow, quantified the user friction, and pitched a full redesign to leadership.
Validation. Conducted 1-on-1 sessions with marketing to map configuration journeys.
Leadership buy-in. Pitched moving from a flat list to a prioritised hierarchy based on audit findings.
Strategic goal. Cut support overhead and accelerate launch velocity.
Design
The core challenge was balancing non-technical usability with power-user speed, without introducing engineering debt.
Hierarchy & taxonomy. Reduced cognitive load, guesswork and immediately established a predictable workflow. (Fig.1)
Consolidating functionality. Reduced visual clutter while allowing users to access complex functionality.(Fig.2)
Fig.1 Evolving from an unstructured flat list to logical, categorized groups, creating a predictable hierarchy that reduces scanning time.
Fig.2 Evaluating design trade-offs led to consolidating controls, minimising visual clutter while preserving access to advanced properties for power users.
Technical trade-offs
By partnering with engineering to implement a visual confirmation I managed to achieve:
Engineering win. Eliminated technical debt.
Business win. Accelerated time-to-market and freed sprint capacity.
User Win. Clear visual feedback on custom vs. system default values.
Fig.3 Mitigating technical debt by using inherited system defaults rather than explicit front-end values to preserve code scalability and cut dev overhead.
Impact
By aligning interface patterns with editor workflows, the redesign eliminated technical engineering bottlenecks, unlocked marketing self-sufficiency, and established a foundation for long-term scalability.
↑ increase in completion rate
Non-technical teams completed page setups without failing or abandoning tasks, directly removing dependencies on engineering support.
↓ reduction in time-on-task
Compressed configuration times during benchmarking, proving the layout streamlines daily editorial workflows and speeds up time-to-market.
↑ increase in task confidence
Higher post-task ease scores validated that reduced visual clutter minimises operator guesswork and costly misconfigurations.
* Benchmarking methodology. Metrics were validated through a controlled usability study (N = 10, across Design and Marketing teams). Participants completed identical end-to-end configuration tasks on both the legacy panel and the redesign to isolate interface performance and measure true ROI.
Key takeaways & reflection