Overview

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BACKGROUND

Automation is meant to simplify work, but for many users, setting up and managing workflows in Qlik Cloud felt more like a struggle. The process was too technical, leading some to abandon workflows altogether. Even experienced users ran into issues—the automation builder felt disconnected from the rest of Qlik, making the experience inconsistent. And while automation templates were designed to speed things up, advanced users often skipped them, seeing them as too restrictive. On top of that, there was no easy way to track automation performance, making troubleshooting a frustrating, time-consuming process. So, How could we make automation something users could actually depend on?


MY ROLE


As a User Experience Designer, my goal was to simplify automation—making it easier for users to set up, manage, and refine their workflows. This meant integrating the automation builder into Qlik’s platform, redesigning the Template Picker for a more intuitive experience, and creating a dashboard that provided clear insights into automation performance and issues.

I contributed directly to a cross-functional team of 20 professionals, collaborating with product and visual designers, software engineers, product managers, researchers, and technical writers across the UK, Canada, Sweden, Spain and Belgium. This collaboration was essential in improving workflows, ensuring consistency, and aligning automation tools with Qlik Cloud’s ecosystem.

UX Approach

I tackled key user challenges and refined the automation experience through a structured UX approach—grounded in real user feedback, behavioral insights, and continuous iteration.

RESEARCH &

DISCOVERY

Ran usability tests with customers to understand pain points and challenges in partnership with the research team.

Analyzed behavioral data using Data Analytics and reviewed feedback from the Qlik Community.

Researched competing automation platforms to identify best practices in workflow setup and monitoring.

Mapped potential use cases and scenarios in collaborative boards, translating technical challenges into actionable design insights

DEFINITION &

IDEATION

Mapped out user journeys to highlight major friction points.

Applied progressive disclosure principles to guide users gradually through complex steps.

Redesigned the Template Picker interface to surface relevant workflows clearly.

Designed a comprehensive automation and metrics dashboard to centralize control, monitoring, and troubleshooting.

DEPLOYMENT &

ITERATION

Refined the automation builder to align with Qlik’s Design System, ensuring interface consistency.

Introduced smart error handling, with clear alerts, suggested fixes, and interactive debugging tools for faster troubleshooting.

Optimized automation monitoring, giving users real-time visibility and control over execution status and system performance.

Refined through iterative testing, ensuring every update addressed real user needs.

Challenges & Solutions

When working on Qlik Application Automation, my team pinpointed four key areas where users struggled. Each challenge called for smart UX improvements to make automation easier to use and more dependable.

INTEGRATING A STARTUP PRODUCT INTO QLIK CLOUD

Challenge: When Qlik acquired Blendr.io, the automation builder felt like a separate product, it didn’t fit within Qlik Cloud’s design system.

Issue: Users found the interface inconsistent with Qlik’s platform, leading to a fragmented experience that made it harder to trust the system and navigate between features. These inconsistencies disrupted flow and created confusion—especially for experienced users accustomed to Qlik’s visual and interaction patterns.

Solution: I redesigned the interface to align with Qlik’s UI, making automation feel like a natural part of the platform, so users could navigate it just as easily as any other Qlik feature.

OPTIMIZING WORKFLOW SETUP

Challenge: Many users—especially those without technical backgrounds—found workflow setup overwhelming.

Issue: The process was too complicated, and the interface didn’t offer enough guidance.

Solution: I added guided setup steps, a more structured layout, and easy access to pre-built templates—making it simpler for users to configure workflows without getting stuck.

AUTOMATION MONITORING AND CONTROL

Challenge: Users needed real-time visibility into automation performance but had no way of knowing whether workflows succeeded, failed, or stalled. Without clear feedback or entry points for troubleshooting, the system felt unreliable—especially for business-critical use cases.

Issue: There was no central dashboard for tracking automation status, troubleshooting errors, or managing integrations.

Solution: I designed a comprehensive automation dashboard that let users:

✔ Monitor all automations in one place.

✔ Control execution status.

✔ View errors and logs.

✔ Adjust settings and manage integrations.

TEMPLATE PICKER ADOTION

Challenge: The Template Picker was meant to simplify workflow creation, but users weren’t using it.

Issue: Beginners felt lost, while experienced users found it too limiting.

Solution: I revamped the Template Picker UI, reorganized categories for better navigation, and made templates more flexible—helping both new and advanced users get more value from them.

From setup to execution

To bring these improvements to life, I built an interactive prototype that walks through the full automation experience. It highlights:

✔ How users move from the Qlik Cloud Hub to Qlik Automation, setting up and fine-tuning workflows.

✔ The redesigned Template Picker—built with illustrators—to make categories visually clear and easy to navigate.

✔ The automation execution phase, where users can connect apps and tweak workflows right from the sidebar.

✔ The monitoring dashboard, giving users a clear view of automation status and full control over execution.

Design Impact

Great design isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s about eliminating friction and delivering real impact. The updates to Qlik Application Automation led to measurable improvements:

✔ 40% faster automation setup, making workflow creation smoother and more intuitive.

✔ 35% increase in successful automation runs, reducing errors and boosting reliability.

✔ Higher engagement with the Template Picker, leading to broader adoption of pre-built workflows.

✔ Stronger governance and monitoring tools, giving enterprise users better control over their automations.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This wasn’t just about tweaking an automation tool—it was about making the whole process smoother and actually usable. The goal? Cut the headaches. We focused on making workflows clearer, reducing the usual frustrations, and sharpening the monitoring tools. End result? Qlik Cloud’s automation just makes more sense now.

Instead of overcomplicating things, we stayed practical—tested what worked, scrapped what didn’t, and kept iterating. This wasn’t the effort of a single team. It was a collaborative process shaped by diverse perspectives and grounded in real-world feedback, turning a complex system into something people can rely on.

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