Simplifying Network Monitoring for Complex Enterprise Infrastructure
An interactive network monitoring and visualization experience within Extreme Platform ONE that helps IT administrators explore network connections, navigate across locations and devices, and investigate connectivity issues in complex enterprise environments.
Product
Extreme Platform One
Role
Sr. Product Designer
Contribution
Interaction Design & Complex Workflows
Timeline
12 months
Platform
Web/ Desktop
The Challenge
Network administrators needed to navigate and investigate hundreds of interconnected devices across multiple locations, quickly identify issues, and maintain context within complex network environments.
My Focus
I designed navigation, network exploration, and device inspection interactions to help administrators find relevant information and determine what to investigate next in large-scale networks.
Overview
Extreme Platform ONE (EP1) brought multiple networking products into one enterprise platform. Its network visualization helps administrators see how devices and services connect, understand dependencies, and investigate issues across locations.
Simplified illustration of device monitoring in EP1
My Role
As a Senior Product Designer on Extreme Platform ONE, I designed the end-to-end interaction and information architecture to transform complex networking concepts into intuitive visualization tools.
- Multi-Layer Visualization: Designed the core interaction models enabling operators to navigate seamlessly between Physical, Fabric, and Services layers.
- Enterprise Site Navigation: Built a scalable, hierarchical navigation framework supporting global-scale network exploration.
- Troubleshooting Workflows: Designed context-aware topology discovery tools and inspection panels to accelerate active incident response.
- Partnered closely with Product Management to translate intricate technical system requirements into clean, user-centered product requirements.
- Collaborated daily with Frontend Engineering to evaluate graph visualization library capabilities and balance interaction design with system constraints.
- Shared alignment models across the broader 50+ designer organization to ensure seamless pattern continuity.
The Challenge
Enterprise networks can span thousands of interconnected devices distributed across multiple locations and technologies. Administrators must move between geographic locations and the Physical, Fabric, and Services layers while maintaining context throughout their investigation.
How do we make enterprise network visualization intuitive enough that administrators can confidently explore, understand, and troubleshoot complex infrastructures?
My goal was to design an interactive visualization experience that made this complexity easier to explore, understand, and troubleshoot.
Design Process
To manage the complexity of a large-scale enterprise platform, I established an intentional design approach centered on user workflows, technical constraints, and system clarity. To establish a clear foundation, I developed a user journey map to isolate core operational friction points and chart the exact workflow an administrative operator takes during an active network issue.
The Strategic Framework
- User Journey Mapping: Developed a comprehensive map to isolate operational friction points and chart exactly how administrators investigate connectivity issues.
- Familiar Mental Models: Leveraged established interaction patterns from everyday software to minimize user cognitive load during troubleshooting cycles.
- Progressive Disclosure: Structured the interface hierarchy to show high-level data upfront, keeping deep backend metrics hidden until an operator explicitly zooms in.
Administrator Journey Map
From exploration to Interface
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Core Design Decisions
01. Designing a Multi-Layer Network Visualization
Enterprise networks can be viewed through multiple interconnected layers, each providing unique insights into the network’s behavior. Administrators needed a seamless way to transition between the Physical, Fabric, and Services layers while maintaining context during their investigation.
How do we help administrators understand the same network from multiple perspectives while preserving context?
I designed the interaction model for navigating between these layers, allowing users to switch perspectives or compare two layers side by side using a split-view experience. This helped administrators understand how changes or issues in one layer related to another without losing their place in the investigation.
High-fidelity layout demonstrating the multi-layer interaction model enabling operators to transition from global geographic tracking to granular physical topologies and split-view path dependencies.
02. Designing Navigation at Enterprise Scale
Enterprise customers often manage hundreds of sites distributed across multiple regions.
How do we help administrators navigate enterprise networks that span multiple regions, sites, buildings, and floors without losing their sense of place?
I designed a hierarchical site navigation that mirrored how enterprise networks are organized. Administrators could navigate from a high-level country view through site groups, sites, buildings, and floors, with each level presenting an abstract representation of that part of the network. This allowed users to progressively narrow their focus before entering the detailed topology for investigation.
High-fidelity layout demonstrating the hierarchical site navigation model allowing operators to progressively drill down from an aggregated building view into granular localized floor topologies while maintaining spatial orientation.
03. Progressive Disclosure Through Topology Exploration
Displaying every device, label, and relationship simultaneously would overwhelm users.
How do we help administrators explore complex network topologies without overwhelming them?
I designed a progressive disclosure model where information appeared gradually as users zoomed into the visualization. This allowed administrators to maintain a clear understanding of the overall network while accessing richer details only when needed.
04. Supporting Device Investigation Without Losing Context
Selecting a device was only the beginning of the investigation. Administrators needed immediate access to critical information such as device health, CPU utilization, memory usage, active alerts, and configuration details without leaving the network visualization.
How do we help administrators quickly investigate a device without disrupting their workflow?
I designed the Inspector as a contextual panel that surfaced the most relevant device information while keeping the topology visible. When deeper analysis was needed, administrators could seamlessly transition to the device’s 360 View, where they could access comprehensive details, review additional insights, and perform actions. This layered workflow supported quick assessments and deeper investigations while preserving context throughout the experience.
05. Balancing User Needs with Technical Constraints
The network visualization was built using a graph visualization library that introduced technical constraints around how nodes, edges, and interactions could be represented. I worked closely with engineers to understand these limitations and evaluate design alternatives throughout the process.
How do we create a seamless user experience while working within platform limitations?
Together, we made thoughtful trade-offs that balanced usability with technical feasibility, including simplifying node representations and adapting interactions to fit the platform’s capabilities. This collaborative approach allowed us to deliver an intuitive visualization experience without compromising the core user workflow.
Outcome
The final experience combined multi-layer visualization, hierarchical navigation, progressive topology exploration, and contextual investigation tools into a cohesive workflow that helped administrators confidently navigate complex enterprise environments.
Impact
As one of the product designers on the Network Visualization team, I designed core interaction patterns for multi-layer visualization, enterprise navigation, topology exploration, and investigation workflows that became part of the shipped Extreme Platform ONE experience.
The Network Visualization experience was delivered as part of Extreme Platform ONE, a unified AI-powered enterprise networking platform that enables IT administrators to monitor, troubleshoot, and manage complex network environments from a single experience.
Following the public launch of Extreme Platform ONE, Extreme Networks reported broader platform-level outcomes. Network Visualization was one of the core experiences within the platform.
Platform-level outcomes reported for Extreme Platform ONE.
Reflection
This project reinforced that making complex networks easier to understand depends on revealing the right information at the right moment. Connecting location navigation, network views, and device details taught me how important it is to help administrators stay oriented as they investigate an issue.
Design isn't just about simplifying interfaces. It's about helping people confidently navigate complexity.