Designing BP’s Internal Self-Service Cloud Database Platform

A new platform to enable engineers, product owners, and account managers to create, manage, and monitor cloud databases, replacing a legacy, support-heavy system with a scalable, autonomous solution focused on visibility, control, and cost-efficiency.

Problem

A legacy, support-heavy system costing millions in operational inefficiencies needed a complete redesign and build.

The challenge

Simplifying a complex infrastructure landscape for both technical and non-technical users across a vast enterprise.

My role

I was brought in as Lead Product Designer and sole individual contributor, owning both the product vision and execution, tasked with delivering the new self-service platform, while also helping shift culture, process, and mindset along the way.

What I delivered

A fully responsive SaaS web application for desktop and mobile
A custom-built design system, tailored to the needs of a broad range of users, from infrastructure and cloud users, to account managers
UX and UI design for a content management system to support internal tooling and governance
A phased launch strategy to support user adoption and transition from legacy systems
A strategy for capturing analytics and enabling continuous product improvement
A marketing landing page designed to communicate product value and onboard potential customers

Impact

80%

Estimated reduction in support tickets

$1-2m

In potential quarterly savings

90%

Able to self serve with no assistance from support

Background

My approach

Key insights

Design system

Shifting culture

Using AI

Outcome: SaaS web application

Redesigned the platform from the ground up, to create a clean, intuitive, and role-aware design that supports a wide range of users, from engineers to product and account owners.

Fast to navigate, especially for frequent or critical tasks

Mobile ready

Redesigned IA around key user tasks, rather than database life cycle, following research and a deeper understanding of user mental models.

The design also provides users with multiple layers of support and assistance:

These features were critical for onboarding non-technical users and reducing support load while encouraging confident, autonomous usage.

Page-specific interactive hotspots that activate contextual guidance, walking users through key functionality.

Contextual FAQs embedded within relevant pages to help users find answers without breaking flow.

Dashboards: High level overview, with key insights, suggestions and actionable items:

Designed for product owners, platform leads, and account managers who need to track usage, costs, optimisation opportunities, and maturity across environments

Account-Level Dashboard: Provides a high-level overview across all database instances, surfacing trends, alerts, and performance insights at a glance.

Designed for product owners, platform leads, and account managers who need to track usage, costs, optimisation opportunities, and maturity across environments

Account-Level Dashboard: Provides a high-level overview across all database instances, surfacing trends, alerts, and performance insights at a glance.

Instance-Level Dashboard:

Provides deep technical insights for a single database instance, including cost trends, usage stats, upcoming jobs, and performance warnings.

Designed for engineers and technical users, allowing them to monitor, troubleshoot, and manage each instance in detail.

Provides deep technical insights for a single database instance, including cost trends, usage stats, upcoming jobs, and performance warnings.

Designed for engineers and technical users, allowing them to monitor, troubleshoot, and manage each instance in detail.

Reports help non-technical users spot inefficiencies, savings, and gaps from best practices at a glance.

The layout was built to educate while informing, using progressive disclosure, plain-language labels, and contextual explanations to reduce the need for training or support.

Provisioning made simple, intuitive, and effortless.

Transformed a complex AWS configuration process into a user-friendly, guided form that simplifies instance creation for both engineers and non-technical users.

Quote generation integrated: Evolved the form into a dual-purpose tool by embedding a dynamic AWS cost calculator, allowing users to generate shareable quotes to aid discussions with account managers.

Using boilerplate instance specs for common use cases reduced form time and made setup easier for non-technical users.

Celebrating key actions with subtle, delightful feedback moments.

Celebrates user milestones with confetti and friendly visuals to humanise the experience and make enterprise tooling feel more approachable.

Encourages feedback at the right moment, turning a positive interaction into an opportunity for continuous improvement without disrupting flow.

Activity: simple clear cards for managers and auditors

These cards surface real-time actions across users and environments, making it easy to monitor progress, identify failures, and audit events, without digging through logs or system

Drawers - Contextual Detail Without Navigation Loss

Drawers keep users in flow, showing detail or actions without leaving the page, ideal for fast, focused work in complex systems.

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