The VA Toolshelf is a desktop tool that served as the software hub for all the tools needed to develop, produce and deliver video games. The VA Toolshelf is a tool used by every single department across PlayStation Visual Arts.
However, for sometime, the VA Toolshelf adoption rates had decreased (Almost down to 60%). It seemed that users opted out of using the tool and figured out different ways of bypassing it such as searching the web for the software they needed and downloading it directly onto their computer. This not only affected productivity across the studio, but it also cause delays when it came to assigning licenses, delivering assets and keeping track of tasks.
Intended end-users were comprise of Artists (Animators, Riggers, Character Art… etc.), Game Developers, Producers, and Tech Artists.
Upon conducting user research and evaluating the tool via a heuristic evaluation, I was able to single out several causes for the drop in adoption rates. It seemed that users did not want to use the VA Toolshelf due to an outdated UI, inefficient navigation, and poor accessibility. These hindered user workflows and collaboration across departments.
Thus, I proposed a complete redesign of the tool in order to address these pain points, improve usability, and increase adoption to align the VA Toolshelf with its intended purpose as the central hub for the studio.
“Redesign the VA Toolshelf to improve user adoption rates and collaboration between teams across the studio to align with the tool’s intended purpose as the central hub for PlayStation Visual Arts.”
The following KPIs were used in order to assess the current state of the desktop tool, and also, we used these to determined whether the new version of the tool was a success or not: Time-on-task, Churn Rate, Adoption Rates, Number of Daily Active Users, Length of Sessions, Session Frequency Rates
A Design Thinking Approach was used for this project along with Lean UX principles such as Continuous Learning. These techniques allowed me to rapidly assess feasibility of the design and validate design decisions, and then iterate on the wireframes to reflect lessons learned.