A “behind the scenes” view of the new user interface from the people who designed it
SEDNA got a massive upgrade last month, with more features put into one update than ever before.
With the most striking changes relating to the platform interface itself, we sat down with our design team to understand how their work is helping users manage their inboxes with even greater speed and clarity.
Check out more reactions to Polaris from across SEDNA:
Can you tell us about the design philosophy behind Polaris?
- João Padinha (lead product designer): “It was all based on user research. Our customers deal with a lot of noise and volume, so it was really important to create some room and space for the eyes to see what needs their attention. Every change was crafted to make people’s working lives easier.”
- Katrin Ho (product designer): “Our design approach was to make information within SEDNA even easier to read and understand at-a-glance. It was all about helping users gather context and meaning as quickly as possible, so they can stay focused on the job at hand.”
What was the reason behind the different colors in the “new look” inbox?
- João Padinha: “For us, the process of design was like mixing a song. First, we needed to create a foundation so all the “tracks” were playing at the same volume–hence using white as the baseline color from which to layer other “tracks” or “colors” on top. We could then use different colors and shapes to “dial up” certain features or information that require users’ attention. For instance, red to highlight any unread messages or new content in the inbox.”
- Michael Owen (product designer): “As most of SEDNA is made up of text, we wanted to focus on making that information as easy for readers as possible. We introduced a new color palette to improve the accessibility of SEDNA and ensure all text and interactive elements met the required contrast levels. We also reduced our overall color usage so we could better utilize color and shapes to draw attention to things that matter most.”
How did user research inform the design process?
- João Padinha: “User research drives a lot of the decisions we’ve taken in the design process. As designers, we’re also influenced by what we see. We look at what best practices are within the industry and also have a vision as a team to create something that stands out. We don’t want to be Google or Outlook–we want to be SEDNA!”
Read more about SEDNA’s biggest update yet