Nardit Hikry | Upwind Security | How Do You Design UX for a Cloud Security Product? - Product Builder Podcast episode with Eyal David
Updated: 00:47:41

Nardit Hikry | Upwind Security | How Do You Design UX for a Cloud Security Product?

Host: · Guest: Nardit Hikry · About the host

Nardit Hikry, Head of Product Design at Upwind, explains how to design UX for a complex cloud security product that serves several personas (the CISO, the security engineer and DevOps) at startup speed. Her answer: don't accept a requirement as a solution, ask what the real need is, distill the problem for each persona, and cut the noise so users know what to handle first.

In this episode

  • A customer request is not a solution. When a user asked to save filters in the URL to share a dashboard, asking 'what's the need?' led to saved views with a shareable link, a solution that could also be reused in other features.
  • In a complex security product, more information isn't more value. A dashboard showing thousands of exposed assets scared off the CISO, so they went up a level: show the number of grouped issues, and let only those who need it drill down into details.
  • One feature has to serve several personas. Before showing a mock, Nardit's team writes down which personas it solves for and what the solution is for each, following a fixed checklist.
  • Fail fast and UX quality can coexist: ship fast, tell customers and design partners it's a first version, collect feedback and refine. At the same time, never compromise on what ships being good enough.
  • A good product manager fits the solution to the company's stage, both business-wise and in R&D capabilities. Grandiose plans usually shrink to a lean version.
  • To challenge requirements you need to understand the technology. In a product for technical users, knowing how the cloud works is what lets you ask the right questions.

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Episode Description

Upwind is a cloud security company that started with real-time (runtime) attack detection and grew into a platform that bridges security teams and DevOps teams. Nardit Hikry, who leads product design there, tells Eyal David about the weekly product offsite where the founders, the VP Product and the VP R&D review mocks together, and how the company's values (customer obsession, fail fast, speed) put UX at the center. She explains how to balance speed with quality, why the solution must fit the company's stage, and how to do discovery when competitors' products are locked behind demos. Through three examples (saved views instead of filters in the URL, a dashboard that showed thousands of exposed assets, and a crowded compliance-standards list) she shows how to distill a problem down to the real need. Along the way she describes her career, from marketing design at Amdocs, through building Amdocs' first design system and Spot, to Upwind.

Chapters

  1. 00:56 · What Upwind does: cloud security from runtime to code
  2. 01:52 · Bridging security people and DevOps
  3. 04:05 · The competitors in the market
  4. 05:17 · The day-to-day and the weekly product offsite
  5. 07:51 · Company values that put UX at the center
  6. 09:30 · Speed vs. quality: fail fast and design partners
  7. 12:32 · Product skill: fit the solution to the company's stage
  8. 14:27 · One feature, several personas
  9. 17:15 · Discovery when products are locked behind demos
  10. 18:28 · Fast track and the saved-views example
  11. 22:47 · Career: from Amdocs to Spot to Upwind
  12. 30:27 · Distilling a problem: the dashboard with thousands of assets
  13. 34:53 · The design team's checklist and brief
  14. 36:33 · The standards list and the special filter
  15. 42:28 · Runtime context and prioritization
  16. 44:56 · Advice: ask questions and understand the technology
Read the full transcript
Full transcript with speakers and timestamps

Selected quotes

“We don't invent anything, we only improve.”
— Nardit Hikry
“Today, products without a good experience simply don't survive in the market.”
— Nardit Hikry
“You need to learn to ask questions and not be afraid to ask questions.”
— Nardit Hikry

Questions & answers

What does Upwind do?

Upwind is a cloud security company that started with real-time attack detection and response (runtime detection) and expanded into a platform that also covers configuration and code. Its edge is real-time context, such as which resources an asset communicates with and which processes are running, which helps prioritize what to fix first.

Who is Upwind built for?

The classic buyer is the CISO and cloud security staff, but the product also bridges the gap with DevOps teams, who have the visibility and the ability to change configuration. In small companies the two roles can be the same person.

How does Nardit Hikry distill a problem before designing a solution?

She doesn't skimp on questions: what's needed, why, who asked, and what the customer's need is. Then she checks how it works in the tools the user already knows, creates an initial mock, and confirms with the user that it really solves their problem before running to development.

What is Upwind's weekly product offsite?

A weekly meeting of about three hours where the founders, the VP Engineering, the VP Product and Nardit review mocks and the user experience together, hear requirements directly from sales, and get a can-do from R&D. She says they haven't missed a single week since the company's second month.

How do you do discovery when competitors' products are closed?

Listen to customers, many of whom already have products Upwind replaces, watch many competitor demos, learn the cloud providers' own tools, and lean on the research team and on data that shows the scale of the problem.

People & resources mentioned

People

UX Product design Cloud security Problem distillation Discovery Personas Upwind Design systems

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