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  he design of a typical Storage Area Network is an intricate, multi-layered web of servers, switches, and cable, often spanning multiple buildings and campuses. Accordingly, an application built to allow IT managers to design such a network would be equally complex. Netliant set out to build just such an application in early 2002, and hired me to design the application's HTML-based user interface.Few graphic designers are intimately familiar with the inner workings of a Storage Area Network, and in January, 2002 I was certainly no exception. As such, my first order of business was to develop a detailed understanding of the ins and outs of a typical SAN, after which I began to deconstruct a SAN's components into discrete configuration screens. An extensible, hierarchical tree of containers, objects, and object properties became a central navigation device, by which the application's users could visually inspect the branches and nodes of the SAN being developed. Custom graphical elements were designed and an HTML prototype was built to demonstrate the navigation and behavior of the UI. I delivered the finished user interface, complete with contextual pop-up menus, an extensive library of icons, and visual error handling, after a breakneck development process of just six weeks. Additional deliverables included an interactive style guide to help Netliant's engineers extend the application's user interface over time.  |
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