Cisco's SDWAN

A look into my experience as a UX Design intern at Cisco during the summer of 2023.

UI/UX Design

UX Research

Project Overview

Role: UI/UX Designer, UX Researcher
Tools: Figma, Miro
Timeline: 12 weeks (May 2023 - August 2023)
Team: Design, Engineering teams

What is Cisco SD-WAN?

Cisco SD-WAN is a software-defined networking solution that balances connectivity, security, and system complexity for enterprises. This project focused on vManage, the platform’s primary interface for configuring and monitoring network operations.


The Problem

The platform suffered from a fragmented user experience caused by inconsistencies between legacy and modern Cisco design systems. Furthermore, critical workflows like license provisioning were overly complex and filled with unnecessary friction, hindering user efficiency.


My guiding questions became

How might we establish a consistent, scalable user experience across Cisco products by adopting a unified design system?

How might we develop a seamless license selection process to minimize misdirection and improve accessibility?


The Solution

I implemented Cisco’s Magnetic Design System to create a unified, scalable experience across the entire SD-WAN platform. Additionally, I transformed the license provisioning flow into a guided, step-by-step process that significantly reduced complexity.


Research & Insights

Research confirmed that inconsistencies between design systems negatively impacted usability and user confidence across vManage. Customer feedback specifically highlighted that navigating dense, multi-step workflows like licensing caused significant frustration and confusion.


Ideation and Concept

I evaluated multiple design standards, and chose the Magnetic system for its superior scalability and alignment with Cisco’s long-term UX vision. To simplify licensing, I prototyped numbered, step-by-step interaction patterns designed to reduce cognitive load and provide clearer user guidance.


Prototyping and Testing

Testing validated that the new step-by-step structure improved task efficiency and reduced the number of process steps by 40%. A new direct-launch mechanism was also introduced, allowing users to initiate licensing flows twice as fast as before.


Outcome

Adopting the Magnetic Design System improved cross-team collaboration and resulted in higher usability scores with fewer UI-related support tickets. Both the unified system and the redesigned licensing flow were successfully moved into production, delivering measurable impact at an enterprise scale.


Next Steps

Following successful testing and validation, Cisco integrated both prototypes into the live production environment. The focus now shifts to monitoring long-term performance and scaling these design patterns across other product modules.

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