Employer:
CISCO
DevNet Docs Redesign
A BETTER WAY TO SEARCH FOR DOCS
DESIGN CHALLENGE
developer.cisco.com/docs was one of the most viewed pages on developer.cisco.com, but it only showed 80 out of the 300+ developer documents that are available on developer.cisco.com. Also, it was manually updated by one single person 🫨, .which not only limited the user experience for anyone viewing the page but also created a back-end nightmare. I was tasked with looking at how we could make this page dynamic so that anytime a new document was published, a developer looking for the documentation would be able to find it on developer.cisco.com/docs. This required not only a visual refresh but also working with doc writers and engineering on the backend system to tag and update properly. This turned a static page into a dynamic, automated system, allowing developers to find the documentation they needed.
RESULTS
– User return rate went from 1.4 to 4.4 times
– 44% of users were able to find content faster.
– Automated the page, increasing the number of available documents from 80 to more than 310.
– Working with the content team to clean up docs on the backend for better tagging and description
Taking a step back and a deeper look
When starting this project, the biggest priority was to step back and look at the bigger picture. I created a Miro board to collaborate with our content team. We used it to identify missing content, determine what was needed, and document issues uncovered through user research. This helped us get on the same page and divide up the work needed from the design and content teams.
Explore what’s new and focus on search
We broke the page into two pages. The first focused on search and the most popular documentation. The second provided a more granular search experience, with additional filters that allowed users to drill down and find the documentation they needed.
