Topology

Topographical maps are visualizations that display the connectivity between devices in a user's network.  LogicMonitor's Maps (Topology) feature was historically not well liked or widely used by our users.  

Outcome of This Project

The Topology Maps redesign more than doubled customer adoption of the Maps features and Maps is featured in all sales demos to potential customers.  Further, the Maps features were added to other modules throughout LogicMonitor, including for Cloud Monitoring, Tracing Analysis, and Applications Monitoring. 

The problem

"I gave it a try, but..."

In collecting feedback on LogicMonitor's Topology Maps we discovered the most common response from users was "We gave it a try, but..." followed by comments that it was difficult to use and not very useful.  It was this observation, combined with usage data from Pendo that convinced us that we needed to completely redesign and re-engineer Maps.

The list of maps was uninformative and hard to use

One area where Maps was failing our users was the "Welcome" screen for Maps.  It lacked visual impact and conveyed almost no information about the map except for the name.  

Maps didn't provide enough information

Another area of concern was that the Map provided very little information to the users.  It would display the devices, the connection, and the status (if the device was in Alert), but little else.  The user could not see any details or properties of the map.  And, if the device was in Alert, they could not effectively explore the nature of the problem.

Inconsistent

Maps were present in several places with LogicMonitor, however, the controls for Maps changed in each location.  This made for a very confusing user experience.  

Aesthetics

Maps are essentially a Data Visualization.  As such, it needs to be aesthetically pleasing and impactful.  The feedback from users and other stakeholders was that the existing Topology Maps where neither.

The process

User Feedback

The initial testing of the existing Topology Maps features was to interview several customers and observe them as they worked with maps in their company's environment (Contextual Inquiry).  From this, we were able to identify the issues discussed above and to create a set of broad Use Cases for map usage.

1. What is the structure of my network?  What is THIS device connected to?  How are THOSE devices connected?

2. Is there a problem in my network?  Are any devices in alert?  What is the scope of the problem?

3. What is the Root Cause of the problem?  Is THIS device the root cause?  Or, is some OTHER device the cause?  

4. I need to show the network to others to help them understand the network.

From these broad Use Cases we were able to understand how the current design failed and guide us in the design.

Competitive Analysis

We reviewed the Topologies in several competative products, including Solar Winds, Data Dog, and Auvik.  

In the review we documented a number of common patterns:

• Clear delineation between devices with problems and those without.

• Device type was clearly marked with clear iconography (outer shape and interior icon) and by color.

• Metrics reported on the topology (e.g. thickness of the connecting line indicating traffic).

• A 'drill in' experience.

• Extensive information presented about each device presented with the Topology.

• "Welcome" pages that were inviting, informative, and visually interesting.

Iterative Testing

Based on the extensive information we collected, we began a process of trying and testing different designs with users and stakeholders, iteratively testing and redesigning.  

The product

The new Topology was released in certain environments in July of 2021 and the full MVP of the "Maps" feature was released in February of 2022.  The images below are taken the MVP released to users. 

The new Topology Maps was very well received by our users and is now a central feature of LogicMonitor.  Maps are now used for Cloud Monitoring, APM, Traces, and Website monitoring.