NetApp

The challenge

NetApp created Flash Ray, an enterprise class solid state storage solution, and hired EchoUser, a firm specializing in user experience, to design their administrator control panel from the ground up. Jarvus’s role in this process was to bridge the gap between design and product by implementing EchoUser’s vision into an elegant intuitive solution that NetApp could be proud to ship.

Design philosophy

EchoUser’s research uncovered key features with regards to usability and the empowerment of system administrators. Jarvus sought to bring EchoUser’s vision to life in the form of a light weight portable Ext JS HTML5 platform that was implemented in concert with NetApp’s engineering team. This philosophy led to a start to finish solution that felt simple and accessible, yet deeply powerful from the moment administrators begin the installation process onwards.

Development

The Flash Ray dashboard was developed in Ext JS and takes advantage of the platform’s powerful and efficient charting and drawing libraries. The Flash Ray dashboard was built from the ground up for performance, and as such dynamically chooses the most efficient drawing engine based on the detected web browser, thus empowering administrators to use their browser of choice. This level of choice and flexibility would be impossible with an off the shelf solution.

Jarvus also consulted closely on the development of an internal API NetApp’s engineering team uses to ensure optimization for the web interface. The localization system leverages the Sencha build tool so minification optimizations are applied both to the application as well as the localization file.

The solution

The development process took place over a three month period where Jarvus worked closely with EchoUser and NetApp to ensure that the ambitious vision of the two companies could be reached without sacrificing performance or functionality. Tight collaboration with NetApp and EchoUser resulted in an elegant solution that provided functionality, power, and performance.

The end result was a product that empowered system administrators with simple, accessible, and highly flexible tools. The dashboard provides instant access to the information and tools administrators need the most, but offers deeper more powerful options that are available with a few clicks or keystrokes. The final product delivers an exceptional administrator experience.