MySonicWall
Web
B2B SaaS
Cybersecurity
Platform Redesign
The following metrics were shared with us by SonicWall's product management as an impact of the design done by this project.
Overview
MySonicWall is a cloud-based portal used by SonicWall partners and customers to manage security devices, licensing, and product lifecycle operations.
While the platform supported SonicWall’s growing partner ecosystem, it was not designed for scale. High-revenue partner users were managing hundreds of devices across multiple tenants, yet the system was built around single-device workflows.
Support tickets were rising. Registration was slow. Trials were buried. Page load times reached up to 10 minutes. If this redesign failed, our agency risked losing the SonicWall contract.
I was brought in to lead UX strategy and redesign the core workflows.
Team
Sr Product Manager, Engineering, Visual Designer, Product designer (me)
Timeline
3 months
The Core Problem
MySonicWall’s primary revenue users: Partners, managed hundreds of devices across multiple client tenants.
But the platform was built for individual device ownership. As partner accounts scaled, the system broke down:
Devices could only be registered one at a time
Products couldn’t be easily filtered or managed by tenant
Transferring devices between tenants was cumbersome
Large product lists took up to 10 minutes to load
Trials were buried and rarely discovered
Partners depended on the portal daily, yet it forced them into manual, repetitive workflows. The platform did not support fleet-scale operations.
To understand workflow differences, I conducted:
8 in-depth user interviews (Partners + End Customers)
8 moderated usability tests
Heuristic evaluation of legacy flows
Key insight
End customer
Jeff is a SonicWall End Customer.
He runs a small restaurant business.
Jeff manages 3 SonicWall firewalls which protects his digital payment and record system from cyber threats.
After setting up the firewalls he really has not needed to use MySonicWall again.
MySonicWall Partner
Ted is a Security Manager at one of SonicWall’s Partners.
His main responsibility is ensure his tenant devices are registered, licensed and up to date with the latest firmware.
With the number of clients increasing day by day, Ted is finding it difficult to manage a large bulk of products, this is costing him and his business a lot of time, effort and money
Legacy System Friction
The legacy portal was built for small-scale management, with limited filtering, no bulk actions, and heavy data loading.
Strategic Reframe
These shifts addressed systemic issues, not surface-level UI problems.
1
Tenant-Centric Architecture
A lot of Partners tend to create multiple tenants in bulk while assigning user groups to look after them. Our “Create Tenant workflow” must be optimized to solve this scenario.
Tenants must also show a clear hierarchical structure when compared to products. Being able to view product list by tenants would encourage tenant creation
2
Bulk-First Workflows
Users often use excel and CSVs for their other tasks; being able to upload a CSV filled with product keys for bulk registration will help the user when dealing with a really large number of products.
For smaller registrations we can allow user to register one or up to fifteen products at a time through the interface.
3
Adaptive Workspace Model
The difference is user types and the possibility of the multiple roles in a partner organization calls for an adaptible dashboard space customized for each user's critical tasks
Information architecture
Reframed from device-first hierarchy to tenant-first fleet management.
Support
Downloads
Products
Bulk-First Workflows
Problem
Partners managed hundreds of devices across multiple client tenants.
Yet:
Products could not be easily filtered by tenant
Transferring devices between tenants was cumbersome
The system hierarchy prioritized devices over organizational structure
The platform did not reflect how partner businesses operated.
Decision
Introduce bulk operations across core workflows:
CSV upload for product registration
Multi-select product actions
Bulk transfer between tenants
Filter-based selection logic
These changes were outside the original design scope. I advocated for them after observing real partner workflows.
Engineering challenge
Engineering was initially hesitant about introducing lazy loading for performance improvements due to backend complexity. I partnered with PM to prioritize performance as a user-critical requirement.
From Static Dashboard to Customizable Workspace
Problem
The dashboard contained static widgets that users found unclear and low-value. Different partner roles had different priorities, yet the interface treated them the same.
"Yeah I don't know what any of this stuff means. Looks nice though"
- User during the interview
Decision
I redefined the dashboard as a Workspace:
Drag-and-drop smart widgets
Role-based customization
Tenant health indicators (“Shield Level”)
Configuration saved per user
This was not part of the original scope, it emerged from understanding operational role differences.
Contextual Trial Integration
Problem
Software trials were buried in the navigation. Trial discoverability was low, limiting expansion revenue opportunities.
Decision
I embedded trials directly within product workflows:
Trial recommendations surfaced in product view
Preview of how trials affect tenant “Shield Level”
Clear activation within operational context