Cloud Governance:
From Immense Complexity to Intuitive Product
Overview
Make enterprise cloud governance accessible to humans
User research
Competitive analysis
Service design
Wireframing
User interface design
Mobile app design
Prototyping
Design system creation
Preparing for investment
Developer collaboration
Team alignment workshop
Fully detailed journey maps
User flow diagrams
Design system
Wireframes
User interface designs
High-fidelity prototype
400% increase in adoption
65% faster workflows
50% average cost savings
$14.5M raised
Jira
Figma & Figjam
Confluence
When powerful tools are too complex for the people who need them most
Formula 1 is the pinnacle of automotive engineering, but only highly trained professionals can drive the cars. Cloud Custodian is the pinnacle of governance and policy management for cloud operations - an incredibly powerful open-source tool that similarly requires a PhD in cloud architecture just to create a simple policy.
Understanding the intricacies of cloud complexity is hard. Compliance officers struggle trying to track violations, and executives rarely have any visibility into the millions they haemorrhage on unused cloud resources. Meanwhile, the one tool that could solve all these problems sat unused because it was simply too intimidating for most people to touch.
This is the story of how I worked with Product and Engineering leaders to transform that F1 car into something everyone could drive - without losing any of its power or handling.
The Problem: When Great Technology Meets Terrible UX
The Reality Check
Cloud governance should be straightforward:
But the reality was a nightmare of complexity that kept teams from actually governing their cloud infrastructure effectively.
User Research
Simplifying technical complexity requires deep understanding of the people who are (and will be) using the product, so I began by reviewing all existing knowledge about customer usage and roles, followed by in-depth user interviews and usability testing.
A lot of technical barriers
Non-technical stakeholders were usually completely locked out
Fragmented workflows
Users had to jump between multiple tools and interfaces
Little design consistency
Features felt like they were built by different teams
Disconnected product development
Features were built in isolation from actual user needs
Invisible opportunities for cost optimisation
Millions in savings were difficult to find and understand for decision-makers, and even more so - to communicate to engineers capable of realising them
Creating a Shared Understanding
I created detailed journey maps that revealed the true scope of the problem. What should have been simple governance workflows were actually complex multi-team orchestrations involving
10+
Steps to test a policy
3-8+
Handoff points
3 weeks
From policy idea to implementation
Zero
visibility for stakeholders outside the technical team
The Solution: Progressive Complexity That Works Simply
Features That Solve Problems
Result: The Numbers Tell the Story
What I Learned
Managing Complexity: The Art of Progressive Disclosure
You don't solve complexity by hiding it - you solve it by revealing it thoughtfully.
The most successful features are those that give users exactly the level of detail they needed for their current task, with easy access to deeper information when required.
Continuous Collaboration is What Makes The Biggest Difference
Regular cross-functional sessions with product, engineering, and marketing teams prevents design debt and ensures everyone is building towards the same vision.