PBX redesign – Users dashboard

The following screens are the redesign of an existing PBX solution. After initial discovery research we found a number of pain points. The main one being that the original solution had no way to make bulk configuration against multiple users. The end users had to go into every user and make the same configuration over and over again. So I introduced “pods” a way to group users with similar settings. The pod can then be configured and users in that pod will inherit its settings (unless they choose to override them at the user level). For ongoing maintenance this means whenever a company has a new starter all they need to do is drag and drop them into a certain pod, assign them a number and device and they are ready to go.

Date: 2023

Services: UX research, UX design and Product designs

Users and pods dashboard

Part of a telecommunication’s PBX redesign

Meet “Pods”

After initial research found that the original solution had no way to make bulk actions against multiple users it became clear that our end users had to go into every user and make the same configuration over and over again.

So I introduced “pods” a way to group users with similar settings. The pod can be configured and users in that pod will inherit its settings, users can override setting at a user level at any time.

Why “pods”?

We wanted to avoid prescriptive terms like “team” or “department,” and we needed a word that was both generic and descriptive. “Pod” is perfect because it evokes a sense of gathering and collaboration, without suggesting to the user how they should be used. This was important because we want them to be used in whatever way make them the most useful.

We also like the humanizing quality of the word “pod.” It suggests that pods are more than just a digital group. Just as a pod of wales is made up of intelligent individuals who work together, our pods provide a space for people to come together and collaborate.