Research, Strategy, & Design Expanded Equinix's Market: Data Center Network Infrastructure as a Service
45 days ➔ <1 day, +87% revenue

Company: Equinix

Project Summary

Equinix's 45-day average to activate a port made us uncompetitive. From research to launch, I led the UX transformation that reduced it 98% to <24 hours, grew revenue 87%. and expanded our market.

Responsibilities: END-TO-END ux

• Sole UX Designer
• Quantitative research
• UX & Product strategy
• Prototypes & UX specifications
• Pixel-perfect designs

Timeline & Team

6 months, with a Product Owner, Technical Product Manager, Engineering, & external visual designer

Results

• 98% reduction
• 87% revenue growth --> $21.7M/mo
• Expanded market to SMBs.

COMPANY & PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Equinix is the largest global data center provider, and Internet Exchange (IX) is the world's largest peering platform, where networks rent physical ports to exchange traffic directly ➔ faster speeds, lower costs vs third-party routing.

• 190+ data centers
• 70+ countries

Internet Exchange

Direct Connection

• Cheaper
• Faster
• Lower latency

PROCESS & Timeline

In 6 months, I learned IX quickly, conducted discovery, worked with our PO and Technical Product Manager (TPM) to reframe our problem, used that new framing for the information architecture, interaction design, prototyping, and visual craft of a new ordering process, and shepherded that design to implementation and delivery with our Singapore engineers.

Discovery & Research with stakeholders & peer products

Recruited from 3 yrs on Cloud Exchange—2 as its sole designer, 1 mentoring its new designer

Reframe product strategy & set design strategy

Experience design for expanded user set & comprehensive coverage

Collaborating to implement with remote devs

A process map shows steps; it doesn't show what a process assumes.

UX asking why...

DISCOVERY

I learned about IX from our PO, our TPM, and the TPM's order fulfillment process map. I traced our 45-day average to our enterprise, white-glove mindset—our process assumed that every customer had an organization deep enough to absorb 6–8 rounds of follow-up and negotiation.

RESEARCH --> STRATEGIC SHIFT

Comparing our process with three competitors' processes, I realized that the right problem wasn’t speed, but a customer gap: competitors’ customers were SMBs who needed a transaction, not a white-glove process.

I brought that new idea to our PO and TPM and worked with them to reframe our product direction from just “2-day delivery” to expanding our market by providing what those SMB customers needed.

DESIGN STRATEGY

I set three design goals to define success: make configuration effects visible (not hidden in dropdowns), support less technical users with in-context help, and integrate all workflows—from new country accounts to document signing—into one comprehensive wizard.

Build the structure of the task into the structure of the tool.

after Ed Hutchins' Distributed Cognition

SOLUTION: VISIBILITY & STRUCTURE

I transformed the business process map into a 5-stage wizard using tile-based selections—where configuration choices visibly affected downstream options, with pricing transparent from page one.

SOLUTION: COMPREHENSIVENESS

I integrated all special case workflows—new country account setup, document signing through our e-signature vendor—as embedded sub-tasks, eliminating the typical 6–8 departmental follow-ups by collecting everything in the wizard.

COMPONENT DESIGN → DESIGN SYSTEM

I carried the whys I'd inferred down into the components: tiles support comparison, prices stay visible, and a confirmation page to give SMB buyers a transaction feel. Adopted by every cloud networking IaaS product via our design system: SMB needs turned out to be everyone's.

I drew from two baby design systems from distinct teams, evolving existing components and creating many new ones through information architecture, interaction design, prototyping, visual design and craft.

I coordinated with designers on both design systems to add those as reusable patterns to both systems.

The structure of the order used to be assembled through follow-ups and negotiations. I built it into the structure of the wizard.

BUSINESS RESULTS

Customers had more confidence and less friction. One got their port in less than 24 hours—98% faster. Revenue went up 87%. Customers bought more both ports and more expensive ones.

"The UI/UX and order flow actually worked great... we went from 'wouldn't it be convenient?' to activation in <24 hours.”

 - Early customer testimonial

STRATEGIC IMPACT & LESSONS

We expanded IX's market to SMB customers through research-driven design—a strategic win beyond our 2-day goal. Next time, I'd advocate for UX involvement earlier in process mapping and Engineering discussions.

Transparency & Education Expanded Market

Research-driven design decisions (transparent pricing, educational content, visible logic) made IX compelling to SMB segment—a strategic outcome beyond the original goal—and, at the same time, gave customers the confidence to buy more expensive ports.

Foundation for future

Established the wizard template, tile patterns, and integrated workflows that went into our design system—and with it to Metro Connect, Cloud Exchange, and every IaaS product: one ordering design language across the line.

Lesson learned

Advocate to include UX during initial business process mapping, not after—would have identified gaps (new country workflow, document signing constraints) earlier and enabled architectural discussions before commitments.

• A process map records steps, and if no one in the room is asked what those steps assume about the customer, those assumptions don't get captured.

SUMMARY

98% faster activation. 87% revenue growth. Market expansion through research-driven design—a strategic win beyond our 2-day goal. Design system foundation.

Summary

98% faster activation. 87% revenue growth. Market expansion through research-driven design—a strategic win beyond our 2-day goal. Design system foundation.

"Thanks for all your efforts last year to make these flows so good they're changing perceptions of interacting with Equinix. This project is going to have a huge impact."

Product Owner, Greg Dendy