SERVICE MANAGEMENT ORCHESTRATION

Service Management
Orchestration (SMO)

Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) is a
centralized system in telecommunications that automates, manages, and optimizes multi-vendor and multi-cloud networks, especially for 5G. It enables seamless
orchestration of network functions, provides real-time insights for quick decision-making, and ensures

efficient resource allocation and performance

optimization across diverse network environments.

SMO is key to simplifying network operations and

improving scalability and efficiency in 5G deployments.

Dec 2023 - Till Date

Key Leadership Responsibilities

Oversee a team of UX strategists and designers across three different products, ensuring design consistency and quality.
Collaborated closely with product and business leadership to shape the overall strategic vision and align design with
business goals.
Worked closely with leadership to craft and define the product roadmap and North Star, ensuring alignment with business and user needs.
Responsible for design evangelization, fostering collaboration between design, product, and engineering teams to create unified and innovative product strategies.

Key Design Responsibilities

Spearheaded the design of Service Management Orchestration (SMO), collaborating with cross-functional teams to bring the product to market.
Provided targeted guidance and feedback to ensure high-quality design work across all products.
Led the integration of Generative AI, driving predictive insights and enhanced automation within the Telco Cloud ecosystem to improve operational efficiency.
Defined the North Star UX vision for AI-driven automation and optimization, creating advanced, user-friendly experiences that seamlessly blend AI with user-centric design principles.

MY Role - Principal Experience Architect

Design leader, design strategist, Information architecture, mentoring, AI integration, define northstar vision, accessibility, partnering with research , cross functional team collaboration,

PRIMARY PERSONAS

Network Architect
Telco Cloud Automation
(TCA)

I need to use available tools and software to create a reliable, scalable network that enables us to meet business goals

Network (NOC) Operator
Telco Cloud Service Assurance
(TCSA)

I need to monitor the health and performance of network services. troubleshoot issues, and assign them to appropriate workflows/departments/colleagues for remediation.

RAN Engineer + SDE
Ran Intelligent Controller Service
(RICS)

My primary responsibility is planning/strategizing performance optimization and to provide expertise to troubleshoot performance-related network issues, so that SLAs

THE PROBLEM

SMO users currently face challenges navigating and managing multiple systems, including Telco Cloud
Automation (TCA), Telco Cloud Service Assurance (TCSA), and Ran Intelligent Controller System (RICS). This fragmentation leads to inefficiencies in task execution and limited oversight across the Service
Management and Orchestration (SMO) platform.
There is a need to create a unified and intuitive user experience that enables seamless navigation,
efficient task execution, and comprehensive oversight to improve the overall productivity and
satisfaction of SMO users.

Complex Multi-Vendor Integration:

Integrating diverse network components from multiple vendors poses compatibility and interoperability challenges.

Fragmented User Experience:

The SMO suite, including Telco Cloud Automation (TCA), Telco Cloud Service Assurance (TCSA), and RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC), lacks a fully unified interface, resulting in a disjointed user experience.

Scalability Issues:

Scaling SMO to handle large-scale 5G networks across multiple clouds proves demanding as networks grow.

Limited Real-Time Visibility:
Network administrators face difficulties with limited real-time insights, hindering effective decision-making and proactive issue resolution.

Customization Challenges:

Tailoring SMO to specific operator needs requires significant customization, increasing time and complexity for deployment.

Learning Curve:

The complexity of VMware SMO’s features presents a steep learning curve for administrators, requiring extensive training.

We conducted primary and secondary customer research
by partnering with research team to better understand this problem space.

WHAT WE LEARNED

SMO VISION

To enable seamless, fully automated, and scalable management of multi-vendor 5G networks,
empowering telecommunications providers with real-time insights, flexibility,
and operational efficiency, while driving innovation and delivering enhanced customer experiences across the dynamic network environments.

SMO UX VISION

To design a unified platform that enables seamless, fully automated, and scalable management of multi-vendor 5G networks, empowering telecom professionals with real-time, AI-driven insights, flexible
controls, and operational efficiency. Our goal is to simplify network operations, foster innovation, and deliver an enhanced, user-centered experience for managing and optimizing dynamic network
environments, ensuring superior customer experiences.

Network Architect

Telco Cloud Automation (TCA)

I need to use available tools and software to create a reliable, scalable network that enables us to meet business goals

Network (NOC) Operator

Telco Cloud Service Assurance (TCSA)

I need to monitor the health and performance of network services. troubleshoot issues, and assign them to appropriate workflows/departments/colleagues for remediation.

RAN Engineer + SDE

Ran Intelligent Controller Service (RICS)

My primary responsibility is planning/

strategizing performance optimization and to

provide expertise to troubleshoot performance-related network issues, so that SLAs

PRIMARY PERSONAS

DESIGN APPROACH

I took a multidimensional narrative design approach to help team to understand the existing products and validate the our concepts. 

Design Thinking Workshops: After the rapid design phase, I facilitated "Sprint Zero," bringing together design,
tech, data, and product stakeholders for a series of design thinking workshops. These workshops allowed us to:
- Align on project goals.
- Map the core user journey.
- Generate innovative ideas.
- Gain a deeper understanding of how each product functions.
- Identify handoffs and recognize overlaps between products.
- Prioritize key features for the new experience.
I would continue to lead similar workshops at the start of each sprint to:
- Maintain alignment on the overall experience.
- Collaboratively brainstorm and explore creative solutions.

"FAIL FAST LEARN FAST"

Real-time feedback from the users: The prestigious Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona 2024 presents a valuable opportunity. I identified this and successfully convinced the leadership team to leverage this opportunity. I led an initiative and partnered with the
technical marketing team to create a small demo, designed to gather feedback from current and potential global users. This demo allowed us to evaluate one of our critical remediation flows within the SMO concept. The initiative was a great success, providing valuable insights and validation that we were on the right track. It also served as an effective marketing campaign to showcase upcoming features to the global audience. 

SHORT TERM & LONG TERM GOALS

We conducted a thorough analysis of various data points, research findings, user feedback, and insights from key

stakeholders. Crafted a clear roadmap with the following goals:

Short-Term Goal: MVP (SMO 0.1) for immediate impact.
Long-Term Goal: SMO North Star Vision, serving as a guiding framework for future innovation and growth.

NEXT STEPS

Facilitate a Story Mapping Workshop:

Create a shared understanding of customer goals based on the established journey.
Identify key user activities for each goal and prioritize features for each activity.

Develop a Prioritized Features List:

Combine the prioritized features with big ideas from our sketches and insights from our original strategic vision.

Collaborate with the Product Team:

Plan upcoming sprints and build a backlog for the Freedom Mobile Member Experience redesign.
Incorporate validation processes to reduce technical debt in the long run.