VISUAL DESIGNS

SETTING THE VISION FOR DARK THEME

Another part of my goal was to persuade the team to redesign the SMS web console with a dark interface, mostly to match the "premium" branding of TippingPoint IDS/IPS appliances, which are consistently placed in Gartner's Magic Quadrant ™.

Another consideration for moving towards a dark interface was my general observation that the security industry was trending in that direction.

I also learned from conversations with our customers that they preferred to look at dark interfaces just because staring at security alerts at the dashboard on bright screens all day long can cause eye strain.

Lastly, a dark visual design offers a more content-focused experience, but is also futuristic, professional, slick, and cool looking.

Although many of these concepts were not implemented, they were still important to get the team excited about the future.

The SMS web console reimagined thematically with a Dark Theme.

PAINT IT, BLACK

I started my dark theme* exploration for navigation elements. I made dark theme for the major pages of the SMS to share with our internal SMS team and customers.

When I shared this with my manager and UX design peers, there were pushbacks. Some thought the dark theme were too depressing. Others commented that it veered away from the traditional Trend Micro red branding. However, product management and development supported my design and we were able to move forward.

*Many months later, the dark theme became a business strategy for Security Operation Center (SOC) and central UX made a dark theme that is used by other Enterprise products. I was proud to lead this effort for the dark theme.