challenge:

User research exposed that creating an Azure Quantum workspace was difficult, costly, and frustrating, leading to confusion and abandonment. Usability testing on Azure Quantum workspace creation and first quantum job submission showed all seven participants – spanning quantum explorers, innovators, practitioners and researchers – failed to set up a workspace utilizing the existing workflow and supporting documentation, preventing them from submitting their first quantum job.

goal:

Gain user trust and mitigate abandonment. Standardize workflows and components to the Azure framework design system. Design a more efficient, intuitive experience through clear, common interaction patterns and calls to action and enable a more accessible and comprehensive understanding of benefits, requirements and process to use Azure Quantum computing.

process:

User research, Design, Design socialization and documentation, Iteration

results:

Through iterative research, design and cross-functional collaboration with product management and engineering we achieved some dramatic results in a short time. 

• Developed clearer, more concise documentation for Azure Quantum workflows, guiding users through workspace creation and first quantum job submission.

• Standardized on best design practices and aligned with the Azure framework design system Fluent, improving UX efficacy and consistency.

• Improved documentation and standardization alone led to a 30-35% increase in successful workspace creation and first quantum job submission.

• The creation and introduction of the Quantum credits program, offering a free and accessible quantum computing simulation option.

• Simplified Terms of Service acceptance by consolidation of multiple provider agreements into a single decision.

• Created a quantum workspace quick-create path, leveraging all the above benefits and reducing complex, costly decisions—boosting workspace completion rates from 35% to over 70%

advanced create:

quick create:

my role:

User research, Design, Design socialization and cross-collaboration with Quantum Researchers, Product Management and Engineering teams and Azure Product Management, Branding, User Research and Design teams.

challenge:

User research showed that the Overview page and Getting Started content was confusing and overwhelming, making it hard for first-time users to know where to begin. Four out of five quantum researcher study participants chose a more complex “Local configuration" / command line method over a much simpler notebook template option through Azure Quantum UI. Experienced users also struggled to find the Credits/Quota Utilization and Job Activity data, as their placment co-located with Getting Started content confused both new and returning users.

goal:

Highlight an easier pathway to submit a first job using notebooks in Azure Quantum UI. Revise page messaging and page design to better delineate between first run, subsequent use, and highly advanced options.

process:

User research, Design, Design socialization and documentation, Iteration

results:

• The removal of obstacles highlighting the primary first-run call to action, resulting in a 3X higher job submission rate of success.

• Quota usage was redesigned and moved from Overview page to Operations side menu and co-located with credit usage and Job usage content. This presented a more intuitive ingress point and a more holistic view of usage.

• Text revisions and Azure framework alignment enabled more concise guidance and enabled a higher user confidence and trust with better user comprehension.
  

my role:

User research, Design, Design socialization and cross-collaboration with Quantum Researchers, Product Management and Engineering teams and Azure Product Management, User Research and Design teams.

challenge:

User research showed that while the sample gallery had a clear purpose, users struggled to find relevant content and navigate the workflow process using the samples. Many found it hard to access the more advanced samples, leading to low engagement with the page and fewer job submissions from the gallery.

goal:

Create a clear, engaging content layout that progressively adapts based on user history. Help users learn taxonomy, structure, and processes while guiding them through completing tasks and quantum job submissions using provided samples.

process:

User research, Design, Design socialization and documentation, Iteration

results:

• Added introductory "Hello World" samples, with 71% of users agreeing with the statement that “Sample Gallery is integral to learning, exploration and understanding of Azure Quantum's offerings” for them.

• Renamed and repositioned the Notebook Gallery as a more interactive "Sample Gallery," improving engagement through standardized design, clearer text, categorization, progressive ordering of samples and more prominent call to action.

• Standardized design within the Azure framework for better usability and easier engineering maintenance.

• Created a provider selection component to highlight inline Azure Quantum’s provider-agnostic approach and enable selection in place.
  

my role:

User research, Design, Design socialization and cross-collaboration with Quantum Researchers, Product Management and Engineering teams and Azure Product Management, User Research and Design teams.

goal:

Enable users to easily understand their credits and quotas usage per workspace and subscription, and in relation to their selected provider plan. Provide easy access to upgrade / increase amounts.

results:

Users could more intuitively account for both credit and quota usage helping them plan for costs, upgrades and funding discussions. This gave users better visibility and control over their plans based on their needs.

my role:

User research, Design, Design socialization and cross-collaboration with Quantum Researchers, Product Management and Engineering teams and Azure Product Management, User Research and Design teams.