Downtime Project

Downtime Page

Designed for Apple (Claris) in 2022

This project was designed for Claris Studio, a cloud-based data collection and management platform created by Claris, a subsidiary of Apple, Inc. Like any cloud based service, the goal is to have 100% uptime. However, there will be moments where the service needs to be taken offline for upgrades and maintenance. It was my task to create a customer-facing downtime page to communicate those moments when the product is temporarily unavailable.

screenshot of Claris Studio's downtime page

Aligning With The Customer

Anytime you go to use a tool you rely on to get work done and that tool is unavailable, it is always a frustrating experience. No one likes to be told that they can’t use a tool that they paid for due to no fault of their own. However, downtimes are inevitible and communicating those moments can help de-escalate the situation.

I started with identifying standout emotional checkpoints that I could build into an empathy map. Based off this, I can look to create positive experiences before and after the downtime to help minimize its impact on the customer.

Current Experience Empathy Map

Ideal Experience Empathy Map

Ideating Solutions

From the customer’s perspective, being notified about a downtime with enough notice to be able to work around them is paramount. This starts by informing customers about the downtime well in advance is the first step. Notifications would happen two weeks in advance via email and in-app. Two weeks was determiend a reasonable timeframe between planning internally and providing customers enough time to prepare.

With my goal in mind, I also researched existing downtime pages to further gain inspiration. One common trend was the opportunity to show personality. One of our goals at Claris was to try and find “whimsical opportunities,” and this was definitely one. I tested several prototypes and came to 3 basic concepts shown here.

claris studio downtime prototype one — This prototype recieved poor feedback for a few reasons. First off, the countdown timer proved to be a conflict. While benficial for the user to have a down-to-the-second expectation of when the service up and running again, this put undue stress and rigidity to the engineering team who may encounter unforseen complications that extend the downtime unexpectedly. Secondly, in Claris’ branding green is used as an accent color and not a primary color. However, the “power nap” tag line was well recieved.

claris studio downtime prototype two — Similar to the first prototype, green is overused as a primary color. Also, the rigid uptime deadline was deemed too concrete. Otherwise, this prototype recieved very neutral feedback. It was the most generic of the bunch and reflected most downtime pages out there.

claris studio downtime prototype three — This was the most adventurous prototype, but also the best received. The color situation was more appropriate, and the introduction of an indeterminate timeline proved to test well with customers as well as gain favor with developers by being informational yet non-committal. The graphic used was the most on-brand though a custom one would be commissioned.

The Final Design

final design for claris studio downtime page

This final design was the result of finding a balance between customer awareness and internal flexibility.

Customers can feel in-the-loop with an estimated uptime and a dynamic timeline that provides progress udpates without providing specific information.

Engineering feels comfortable with have flexible deadlines that can accomodate unforseen issues.

Claris’ brand is appropriately represented and provides an opportunity for personality while still being professional, succinct, and informative.

Not convinced? Check out more of my work.

View Work