Infoblox IQ
Adopt Gen AI to assist BloxOne users with configuration and understanding security events using natural language.
Infoblox aims to integrate emerging AI technology into its flagship product, BloxOne. During Q2 and Q3 of 2023, my primary focus has been on enhancing the user experience through the integration of an AI Assistant. This project seeks to streamline user interactions, reduce friction points, provide personalized assistance to our customers, and ultimately improve user satisfaction and engagement with the product.
Duration
Nov 2023 - Apr 2024
Team
3 UX designer
1 Senior UX designer
2 Product Managers
Engineering team
IMPACT
150+
Users adopted IQ in the first 3 months of launch
24%
Reduced Customer Support Tickets Related to configuration issues
3x
Faster to learn new features
PROBLEM
Many BloxOne users struggle with debugging/troubleshooting and configuration problems.
Most support questions are about debugging / troubleshooting (70-80%), and configuration questions account for 20-30% of the queries.
Configuration help related questions can aid novice users during initial setup and summarize Help Documents within our platform.
-> How might we adopt Gen AI technologies to help BloxOne users overcome technical challenges more effectively?
STRATEGY
An AI chat assistant that uses gen AI to deliver fast, context-aware guidance, helping users resolve technical challenges.
We decided to implement an AI chat assistant within the BloxOne platform that leverages gen AI to help users overcome technical challenges more effectively. The assistant delivers concise, context-aware guidance, surfaces relevant configurations, and provides clear next steps, reducing troubleshooting time and improving user confidence across key workflows.
Network (and)or Security: Role-Based Daily Task
We realized these key daily tasks for Network and Security personas (blue cards) could serve as prompts in the AI assistant, enabling users to jump-start their workflows with a single click and receive immediate, context-aware assistance.
Response Pattern
DESIGN
Moderated Usability testing with 17 BloxOne customers
Research Goals:
Testing the usability and usefulness of the proposed features so that we can iterate on the initial PoC.
Understanding whether the proposed design provides enough guidance on what users can search for.
Key Insights
Navigating to the context and viewing IQ's responses while simultaneously performing actions was the most valuable feature.
Users liked how AI assists them to fix misconfigurations and not makes conclusion by itself.
Users desire the ability to visit previous chats for similar issues.
Major Design Improvement By Usability Testing
Displaying a clear CTA with suggested remediation steps
USER INSIGHT
Most participants expect the AI assistant to be a better search and an easy way to seek quick answers.
We recommend concise answers, highlighting the most critical content while displaying clear CTAs or suggested remediation steps for quick action.
BEFORE
Text-heavy, step-by-step solutions without clear CTAs
Previous Design
AFTER
CTA buttons are introduced, allowing users to instantly access the relevant context for each step.
New Design
Enhancing User Control with Flexible Configuration Options
USER INSIGHT
Users expressed discomfort with buttons that implied automatic changes without visibility or control. They wanted the ability to review recommendations, understand the impact, and adjust configurations before committing.
BEFORE
The "Resolve" button implied immediate configuration changes. No flexibility in adjusting configuration settings, limiting their control to Yes/No choices.
Previous Design
AFTER
Shifted from instant “Resolve” to a review-first flow using a chevron, giving users flexibility to validate and adjust configurations before applying changes.
New Design
Preference for Tabular Data Over Text-Heavy Information
USER INSIGHT
Users found the text-heavy bullets overwhelming and prefer a clearer, more structured tabular format for quickly understanding high-level information.
BEFORE
Data was presented in bullet points, making it hard to read and quickly scan through.
Previous Design
AFTER
Data is displayed in a tabular format, making it easier to skim and copy efficiently.
New Design
FINAL DESIGN
Introducing Infoblox IQ
With Step-by-Step Configuration Guide with clear CTAs, users can quickly do configuration.
Bloxy enhances user experience by offering clear, intuitive CTAs that guide users directly to the relevant pages, modals, or forms. This allows for seamless navigation, ensuring users can quickly access the exact context they need without unnecessary clicks or confusion, speeding up workflows and improving overall efficiency.
Extended panel: Users are able to see large tables and rich visualizations without leaving the chat
The extended panel enables IQ to seamlessly transition from chat-based interaction to a more structured, visual interface when needed.
This approach ensures that users can stay within the AI workflow while accessing more advanced views, eliminating the need to navigate to separate pages. If users want to view the full data, they can quickly navigate to the full page.
Why extended panel?
View detailed tables or visualization with larger datasets
Explore charts and visualizations for better insight
Interact with data without leaving the current context
Misconfiguration Wizard helps users quickly review and resolve misconfigurations in a single click, tackling one of their biggest challenges.
Reviewing and resolving misconfigurations is a core daily task for most our network users.
Previously, users had to manually filter issues and fix them one by one. With IQ, users can simply type just "misconfigurations" or “View misconfigurations” to get a list of issues, review recommendations, and resolve them in one shot.
IQ does not act automatically—it always asks for user confirmation and provides guidance before executing any changes.
REFLECTION
This project shaped my perspective on AI as an intelligent partner that actively supports and accelerates user workflows, rather than a passive assistant
Designing for Trust & Clarity
Ensured AI responses are clear, concise, and actionable
Designed interactions that help users validate outputs before taking action
Explored how to introduce automation while maintaining user confidence
Created a unified, AI-driven experience
Focused on translating user intent into meaningful system actions
Reduced friction by enabling users to complete tasks directly through AI
Designed flows that move beyond information → execution