Enhanced DDoS Portal Redesign

Turning Delays Into Design Wins

I joined the stalled redesign four months behind schedule and got it back on track, introducing accessible Material UI templates, restructuring the IA, and realigning flows to real user workflows. User testing after launch validated the approach: task completion was 25% faster and support tickets dropped 30%.

Client

AT&T Cybersecurity

Role

Lead Designer

Team

2 Contract Designers, Product Managers, Engineering & Stakeholders

Timeframe

5 Weeks

Skills

Interface Design, Design Component Library, Figma, Mockups, Accessibility Compliance, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Communication, Attention to Detail, Empathy

Due to NDA contractual agreements, detailed work is available on request.

NDA (Request Access)

Context & Problem

When a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack happens, customers need immediate understanding. Instead, AT&T’s DDoS customers were juggling three separate portals to interpret their traffic, alerts, mitigations, analytics, protected zones, reports, admin tools, and documentation. Each portal looked and behaved differently, which added friction during already high-pressure moments.

Our MSS operations team confirmed the impact: about 70% of support calls were tied to portal confusion.

Portal landing page instructions for Non-Reactive customers

Challenges & Constraints

The squad had reached a standstill. The contract designer still needed more info and guidance on the brand and product system design.

There were a lot of challenges and constraints:

Short timeline
Highly technical content
No access to current products
Lean research
Lean user testing
New design library without much documentation
Constrained confined deliverables

Lots of ambiguity!

Preliminary Research & Findings

Sketchnote depicting 3 separate portals with an arrow merging into one unified portal with 6 sections

3 separate portals to unify everything into one cohesive experience

Working under a tight timeline, we conducted guerrilla UX research to quickly surface the core issues. The DDoS experience lived across three disconnected portals with inconsistent navigation and patterns. Users described it as fragmented and unintuitive. They bounced between tools to find basic information, lacked a reliable starting point, and struggled to interpret key data. Support teams saw the same problems through recurring questions.

Users needed one stable, predictable portal they could rely on. The goal became clear: unify everything into a cohesive experience.

Goals

Onboard the team

Get the few contract designer up to speed on our design library, branding guidelines, product requirements, and platform patterns.

Guide design reviews

Lead design reviews so the work reflected what both users and the product required. Also check accessibility contrasts.

Stakeholder meetings

Clarify design goals and help the team meet deadlines.

Sections of mui component library

Outcomes & Impact

Within a month, the redesigned experience took shape. We reduced cognitive load through a clearer IA, made the content within tabs more concise, and reorganized navigation to remove unnecessary searching. Improved tables, meaningful badges and icons, and improved visual hierarchy. We kept the design consistent, accessible and reduced confusion.

A peek at the home / landing page

A graphic titled 'Usability testing confirmed the improvement' featuring two key performance metrics: an upward arrow next to '25%' with the caption 'Users completed task flows faster,' and a downward arrow next to '30%' with the caption 'Support tickets tied to portal confusion.

Usability testing confirmed the improvement. Users completed task flows 25% faster. Support tickets tied to portal confusion declined by 30%. Customers found the visuals more trustworthy and aligned with the broader platform, and product leaders highlighted the strengthened consistency and usability.

Reflection & Growth

Despite many challenges and constraints, I utilized cross-functional collaboration and learned the importance of clear communication. I stepped in to help get deliverables delivered on time. This brought the project to meet the deadline when it was four months behind.

With more time, I would have explored different chart generators like D3. I would have also liked to explore providing specialized dashboards to multiple archetypes.

Award

I was awarded “Support of DDoS UX and Going Above and Beyond” for collaboration and accessible design excellence.