Managed Home Screen Configuration Experience
Reimagining Managed Home Screen’s configuration experience within Microsoft Intune’s admin console.
01 | Overview
2024 Microsoft Design Internship
In the summer of 2024, I was a design intern on the Management UX team at Microsoft Security, where I led an end-to-end project reimagining the Managed Home Screen configuration experience.
Due to confidentiality agreements, I am unable to disclose specific details about the project or certain design decisions. Instead, I can share a high-level overview of my process!
June - September 2024
12 weeks
Manager - Minoru Uchida
Mentor - Whit Williams
PM - Abigail Stein
Engineering Lead - Kurt Seippel
02 | Context
What is Managed Home Screen?
Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based endpoint management solution that manages user access to organizational resources and simplifies app and device management across a variety of virtual endpoints.
Managed Home Screen is an app for corporate-owned Android Enterprise devices managed by Intune in multi-app kiosk mode. It acts as a launcher for other approved apps to run on top of it, enabling IT admins to control and customize what the devices can do. This empowers frontline workers with secure and streamlined access to necessary work apps and data, without the clutter of a standard device setup.
The tool is invaluable across a wide range of sectors, benefiting industries like retail, healthcare, and transportation, to drive improved operational flow and worker efficiency.
For frontline workers, this means quick, distraction-free access to essential line-of-business apps and M365 tools like Teams and Outlook, helping them stay productive. It also makes device-sharing easy and secure. For example, a retail worker using a shared tablet for inventory or a nurse accessing patient records can sign out smoothly, allowing the next user to start fresh without security worries. This ensures a consistent, reliable experience for everyone.
03 | Problem
Streamlining the Complex
However, despite its critical role, the current configuration process for Managed Home Screen is overly complex and unintuitive. IT administrators must navigate across multiple workloads in the Intune console to set up device groups, approve and assign Managed Home Screen and other apps, and manage both device configuration policies and app configuration policies to configure the complete list of features Managed Home Screen has to offer today.
The goal of my project was to streamline the configuration process and craft an intuitive experience that better serves the IT admins’ needs.
04 | Research
Understanding the Current State
To better understand the existing system, I audited the current experience and consulted stakeholders like customer support, engineers, and IT admin teams from Managed Home Screen’s largest customers. This helped me identify user preferences and pain points throughout the configuration process, which I mapped in a detailed user journey flow. Using these insights, I collaborated with my PM to define the P0 requirements for the redesign, ensuring that the project goals were clearly defined and aligned with both user needs and business objectives.
05 | Design
Crafting the Solution
From my research findings, I began explorations for a “north star” configuration experience to simplify the user flow and enhance the clarity of the process to address key user challenges. Throughout the iterative design process, I maintained close collaboration with my PM, engineers, customer support, and fellow designers from the Management UX team to gather feedback and refine the design. I also presented my work at the organization’s All Hands meeting with leadership and the broader Security UX organization, which provided valuable insights for future improvements.
06 | Evaluate
Validating Design Decisions
To validate my designs, I conducted a focus group session with 12 active participants comprising of IT mobile architects, MDM admins, and mobility system engineers from major global organizations. The feedback allowed me to gauge reactions to the proposed workflows and interactions, as well as better understand the users’ intents and preferred behaviors. This allowed me to iterate and refine the design to align with the configuration experience that best addressed the users’ needs.
07 | Delivery
Sharing the Final Proposal
I presented the final design to PMs, designers, and engineers on the Microsoft Security Management team. Additionally, I created detailed design and accessibility specification documentation to facilitate a smooth handoff to engineers and future designers working on the project.
08 | Reflection
Key Takeaways
I honed my ownership skills, from establishing my own timelines to facilitating cross-functional meetings and clearly articulating design rationale. I learned to adapt to shifting priorities on the fly without compromising quality and recognized the value of proactively seeking support when needed, fostering collaboration and open communication for a more productive work process.
Tasked with proposing a “north star” experience, I was challenged to explore beyond the limitations of the current framework to push for a better user experience. Initially, it was daunting to design for such a specialized target audience, but by studying documentation and engaging with customers and support teams, I gained a deeper understanding of the product and its challenges.
Balancing an ideal user experience with the constraints of the broader Intune console and the potential impact on existing workflows was also difficult, but consistent progress and proactive consultations with team members helped me build confidence in communicating and advocating for my designs.
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