+ Design Evolution of VMware vSphere From Concept to Product Ken Guzik, vSphere Design Lead

+ Evolution of Design Creation of VMware vSphere VMware started with a vision to create a hands-off data center using virtualization Users were conservative and risk averse IT administrators To our users, virtualization was complex, mysterious and scary Simply providing great technology wouldnt cut it The product had to feel simple and non-threatening

+ Evolution of Design How could VMware bring virtualization to the enterprise? Focus on the user experience as a primary goal Make the user experience simple, familiar and approachable Remove the mystique of virtualization Make the most complex operations ridiculously simple Instill a culture of great UE across the company Hire a dedicated UX design lead (Ken)

+ Initial Concepts Single Pane of Glass As Familiar and Comfortable UI as Possible (Windows Explorer) Well Known UI Models VMware VirtualCenter Concept Model

+ Initial Concepts Alternate VirtualCenter Concept Model Separate Navigation From Views Less Familiar to Windows Users Well Known UI Models Multiple Windows for Increased Visibility Rejected

+ 1.0 Design Very limited functionality VM management and Host/VM monitoring only Simple wizard based VM deploy Drag and drop VM Migration Not much else

+ 2.0 Design Full datacenter automation High availability Host load balancing (DRS) Fault tolerance Scale out to 1000s of VMs Full host, VM, network and storage configuration

+ 3.0 Design Continuing to build out functionality Policy based automation High level intelligent monitoring Scale out to 100Ks of VMs Integration with other mgmt UIs

+ What happened to the small user? As the product scaled out, care was taken to ensure things worked on a small scale But… Complexity creeps in, and the usability for the small datacenter suffers Time to rethink the small users needs Better understanding of use cases lets us consider a different product that addresses their needs

+ Downsize & Simplify Conceptual single host UI model Supports only the most valuable use cases Fully automated with minimal user interaction Focus on small business needs

+ Focus on Tasks Cloud based management of local datacenter Primarily task and wizard based UI Integrated with community for automated recommendations Designed for the small business use cases Go.vmware.com

+ More on VMware vSphere Ken Guziks portfolio page Case study of the evolution from vSphere 1.0 to 2.0 User-Centered Design Stories, Real-World UCD Case Studies Case 12 – User Centered Design for Middleware Publisher: Chapter: VMware vSphere product page Video tour of vSphere 4.0

Fini

+ Design Tested the idea with early design partners Single application window was overwhelming favorite Made the application seem simpler Immediately understood how to navigate the application

+ Design

+ Evolving to 1.0 Testing the application Internally With design partners Polishing the interface Apply graphic design Catchy icons Clean look and feel

+ 1.0