1
Scattered Files
Thinking the "locked" state blocked saving and editing, users saved in personal folders.
Knowledge Platform Redesign
From File Storage to a Collaborative Knowledge System
My Role
Product Designer
Redesign & Feature Creation
Team
Product Manager, Developers,
Data Analysts, Knowledge Managers
The Context & Problem
The platform successfully served its original goal: providing secure file storage. However, as user workflows evolved, it failed as a collaborative knowledge tool due to poor file discovery and confusing permissions.
Before
After
Process
Where the friction lived
The platform serves hundreds of thousands of operators daily. A Re:design could not start with new visuals. It had to start with evidence, gathered from three sources.
Support Tickets
Read back the requests that kept returning, to see which parts of the workflow broke down again and again.
Usage Patterns
Looked at how people actually worked: personal folders, local copies, and the work that quietly continued outside the system.
User Conversations
Asked users why each workaround existed, so the reasoning behind it came through and not only the symptom.
Research: Identifying the Gaps
Discovering the gaps through research
Analyzing support tickets, usage patterns, and user conversations revealed six key findings. In every instance, user-built workarounds highlighted exactly where the current design was failing.
Exploration & Key Decisions
Strategic solutions for each stage of the flow
Find
Escaping Basic Search
The Break
A name-only search inside a deep folder maze.
The Fix
I introduced suggested labels, advanced search by date and file type, a “Recently Viewed” section, and replaced the unclear “locked” state with an explicit “edit-only” mode.
Trust
Nothing Left to Assume
The Break
Unmarked copies hid the official file, and excessive permissions exposed classified data.
The Fix
I surfaced last-edited metadata, showing who edited the file and when, added an “Official” stamp that prioritizes files in AI results, and introduced clear folder ownership for access requests and error reporting.
Act
Users Took Their Own Path
The Break
Sharing, editing, and AI required leaving the platform, creating inefficient workarounds.
The Fix
I brought core actions into the platform: direct file sharing to chat, AI Q&A and summaries for files and folders, seamless in-app editing for documents, presentations, and spreadsheets, and a redesigned Trash that reduced support tickets.
Final Solution
01 / 08
← Back