Access Pulse

Reimagining Access Pulse, an Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) platform managing 200K+ accesses across 250+ enterprise apps—fixing major usability issues, streamlining workflows and enhancing data management.

Access Pulse serves teams like HR, Finance, Delivery and more - each with their own unique needs and workflows. While critical to seamless enterprise operations, the platform was facing a lot of challenges: fragmented user experiences, outdated design and a lack of alignment with the diverse needs of its users. The experience felt unintuitive and cumbersome, impacting efficiency and satisfaction.

This project is not just about redesigning a platform - it’s about streamlining how access control operates across the enterprise. It has been one of the most complex and rewarding challenges I’ve tackled so far.

🔒 This case study has been shared with due care taken to protect confidential information.

About the Project

⏱️ Duration

10 months (Jan - Oct 2024)

🔍 Scope

Nomenclature, onboarding, design system consistency, accessibility, data management and streamlining workflows.

🎯 Goals

Simplify access management workflows for diverse user groups with varying levels of proficiency.
Redesign the information architecture to streamline navigation and improve usability.
Improve data management and representation to facilitate quicker data discovery, analysis and informed decision-making.
Establish consistency in nomenclature, interaction patterns and application behaviour.
Ensure accessibility compliance by adhering to WCAG design and development standards.
Incorporate scalable design solutions to support future product evolution.

My Role & Responsibilities

💼 Role

UX Designer

✏️ Tools

Adobe XD, Figma, Adobe Illustrator, MS Excel

📋 Responsibilities

Leading UI design & design implementation.
Supported UX strategy, research.
Conducted evaluations, interviews and audits to identify pain points and opportunities.
Designed high-fidelity wireframes and prototypes for stakeholder demos to validate ideas, assess feasibility, secure buy-in and iteratively test and refine solutions.
Collaborated with product owners and managers, developers and other stakeholders to ensure alignment and timely delivery.
Guided the development team on implementation, reviewed front-end defects and ensured accessibility compliance.

THE GOAL

Access Pulse plays a critical role in operations for various teams across the organisation, yet it’s one of the least successful products in the ecosystem. Users face significant challenges performing their tasks efficiently, often relying on help and documentation. The challenge lies in creating an intuitive platform that brings critical information to the forefront while addressing diverse user needs and ensuring smooth operations in a complex environment.

So, our goal was to...

Redesign Access Pulse to simplify complexity, build user confidence and enable self-service access control without requiring deep expertise or ongoing support.

THE SOLUTION

Here’s how we got there...

🔑 Optimised Entry and Quick Access

Introduced a new landing page that eliminates navigational confusion and offers immediate access to vital information.
The “Explore What’s New” and “Authorization Status” sections offer key metrics and direct links, while a sticky, task-prioritized menu ensures clarity with brief descriptions and interactive tour links.
Enhanced efficiency with a pending requests count from the Worklist and a robust, iteratively refined search function.

⚡Streamlined Data Management

Reorganized the application by removing faulty, redundant and missing links to create a clear, hierarchical structure.
Created a unified interface by consolidating scattered pages where necessary, reducing clicks.
Implemented robust sorting, filtering and search options tailored to diverse user roles, improving data discovery and empowering users to quickly manage data.
Enabled in-app bulk operations (e.g., renewals, tagging, revoking) to accelerate task completion.

Authorization management screen

Access Details Page - Detailed View

💡Enhanced Onboarding and Contextual Guidance

Rolled out product tours, interactive walkthroughs and contextual tooltips that support on-the-fly learning, reducing reliance on external documentation and accelerating user adoption.
Improved microcopy and menu descriptions based on user feedback, A/B testing and surveys ensuring language is clear and intuitive.
Ensured consistent interactions and intuitive terminology across the application reducing the learning curve for users.

Welcome screen for onboarding

Onboarding flow

Providing contextual guidance on different sections and their purpose

🔔Comprehensive Alerts and Messaging

Integrated context-sensitive alerts for critical actions (e.g., expiring/expired authorizations, untagged users statuses) to ensure timely user responses.
Implemented inline validations and concise success, error and warning messages to minimize errors and maintain smooth operations.

Alerts notify when no users are tagged—ensuring critical actions aren't missed and workflows stay unblocked

What's New Section to keep users updated on new features

Access Expiry Alerts for tracking expired and expiring accesses

Pending Worklist Count to help users manage their workload

🤝Inclusive and Data Driven Design

Employed high-fidelity wireframes and early focus group testing to base all design decisions in real user insights. Well rounded validations and iterative refinements ensured a reliable and good experience.
Adhered to WCAG 2.1 standards—ensuring appropriate color contrast, keyboard navigability and scalable zoom—so that all users have a seamless experience.

Testing with focus groups

⌨️ Nomenclature Update

Feedback from both new and experienced users indicated that the old terminology was too vague and technical, often confusing users who were not familiar with coding or development terms.
After a thorough retrospective analysis of user feedback, tickets and input from the product team, we explored various terminology options. This included conducting A/B tests and a comprehensive survey with 40–45 users. Although opinions differed, the survey provided the necessary data to arrive at a set of terms that are more intuitive and work cohesively within the application.

Microcopy documentation in Excel

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