A laptop showing the dashboard of a SaaS website and a few UI screens of the site shown as a background.

Jaide Software License Manager

Jaide’s enterprise app overlooked key legacy constraints, causing user errors and frustration. We redesigned it for usability, resulting in 2x productivity for users and a 50% cost reduction for clients.

Client

Jaide GmbH

Role & Team

Senior UX Designer

Duration

April to June 2021

Background

Challenge

Despite a recent visual refresh, License Managers continued to face usability issues that led to inefficiencies, errors, and vendor complaints.

Objective

Redesign the experience to improve usability, streamline workflows, and reduce user errors.

Discovery and Research

We started with stakeholder interviews to understand the target users, the current challenge, and the project's goals.

Users

Users of SLM are called License Managers. Their primary tasks included managing customer orders, sending license keys, and handling online transactions. All are based in Germany and mainly speak German.

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A localized user survey of 4 License Managers uncovered key pain points:

  • Difficulty in finding specific orders and keys.
  • Inserting and managing keys is a complex process.
  • Too many clicks are required to complete tasks.

Based on the results of the survey, we created a process map to visualize where license managers encounter the pain points in the app, while a follow-up heuristic evaluation revealed 32 usability issues.

Based on Nielsen's 10 Usability Heuristics for UI, we evaluated the SLM app and discovered 32 usability issues:

  • 9 issues related to supporting recognition rather than recall
  • 6 issues related to error prevention
  • 6 issues related to the flexibility and efficiency of use
  • 11 other usability issues

Total Usability Issues

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Design Decisions

Simplify the flow and remove complexity

Help users complete tasks efficiently by streamlining the license management process, removing redundant steps, and improving the Information Architecture of the navigation.

Improve information findability and management

Help users find what they need without opening every record by supporting search, filter, and sort on all data tables, and showing key information inline.

Fix low-hanging usability issues

Resolves the most critical of the 32 identified usability issues so users benefit from meaningful improvements right away.

UI Design

Dashboard

Improved sales insights and streamlined order management

Gave managers better sales insights with flexible filtering and comparisons, made order creation more prominent, and improved order management with status-based cards and a more intuitive, action-driven table.

Before and after comparison of the SLM dashboard redesign Before and after comparison of the SLM dashboard redesign
Before After

Orders

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Making Orders easier to recognize

Improved the information architecture by grouping related content, prioritizing key information, and using progressive disclosure for secondary details. Added an order summary and context-aware actions to support faster decision-making.

A before-and-after comparison of the Order page of the SLM site. A before-and-after comparison of the Order page of the SLM site.
Before After

Products

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Making it easy to create and find the right Product

Enhanced the products table with relevant information, search, filtering, sorting, and clearly labeled actions, including a prominent Add New Product Key button.

A before-and-after user interface of the Product page of the SLM site. A before-and-after user interface of the Product page of the SLM site.
Before After

Results

32

Usability issues found

2×

Increase in productivity

50%

Cost reduction

Key Results
  • License Managers completed critical tasks twice as fast after the redesign.
  • Jaide clients reduced operational costs by about 50% within months of launch. More results posted by Jiade
Impact
  • 32 usability issues identified, laying the groundwork for a more intuitive experience in future iterations.
  • 100% client satisfaction reported in follow-up.

Takeaways

What Went Well

Proactive communication across time zones through group chat and scheduled calls kept the team and client aligned throughout the project.

What Could Be Better

Survey turnout was low, which limited the depth of user data. A more targeted approach to recruiting participants could have helped.

What I'd Do Differently

Negotiate the research scope earlier when the timeline is tight, rather than adjusting mid-sprint.

Testimonials

Ergo Design Studio played a key role in enhancing the usability and overall design of our web application within a fast-paced timeline. They were highly collaborative, responsive to feedback, and brought valuable insights that elevated the user experience. They were easy to work with, met our requirements effectively, and ensured a smooth design process. Our team was very satisfied with the results, and we appreciate their expertise and dedication.

Rias Sherzad CEO, Jaide GmbH