Role Based Access: Empowering Solution Architects

UX-driven approach to enterprise data governance that generated $700k in ARR expansion

Details

How strategic research and systematic design thinking transformed SharpCloud's enterprise offering, enabling solution architects to manage complex data permissions while driving significant revenue expansion.

Client

SharpCloud

Role

UX Designer

Duration

3 Months

The Challenge

Moving from Complexity to Control

SharpCloud's existing enterprise system relied on complex template hierarchies that made data governance difficult for power users. Solution architects needed:

  • Granular permission control without technical complexity

  • Role emulation capabilities to validate user experience

  • Centralised data management replacing scattered approaches

  • Intuitive interface for non-technical business users

The old vs new paradigm

Before.

Template-based inheritance with complex hierarchies

After.

Centralised data pool with role-based access controls

We designed a flexible role system where:

  • Roles define what data users can access

  • Role Filters provide granular control (table, row, column, cell level)

  • Story Scopes filter data to what's relevant for specific use cases

Key Innovation: Overlapping permissions where the highest permission level wins (Write > Read > Hidden), allowing for complex but predictable access patterns.

Research & Discovery

Understanding the user journey

Working closely with our Customer Success team, I analysed user feedback and identified critical pain points for Solution Admins with our MVP and previous versions of our enterprise offering:

  • Unclear structure - Users would be unsure of their position inside the role settings

  • No easy top level views for roles - Solution architects needed information quickly

  • UI felt cluttered - Information was tightly banded together causing overload

  • Granular controls needed - Power users needed to know what other users could see


Key Insight:

"Solution architects need a clear, hierarchical view of role permissions with granular controls to efficiently manage and visualise user access levels without clutter"

"Solution architects need a clear, hierarchical view of role permissions with granular controls to efficiently manage and visualise user access levels without clutter"

This insight the became the guiding policy for feature design for the Solution Architect page

User journey mapping

I created detailed user journeys that showcased:

  • Pain points with the existing MVP

  • Critical moments where users needed validation

  • Opportunities for streamlined workflows

I created detailed user journeys that showcased:

  • Pain points with the existing MVP

  • Critical moments where users needed validation

  • Opportunities for streamlined workflows

I created detailed user journeys that showcased:

  • Pain points with the existing MVP

  • Critical moments where users needed validation

  • Opportunities for streamlined workflows

Design Process

Understanding the user journey

Phase 1: Concept Validation (Closed Alpha)

Participants

3 Key Enterprise Customers

Duration

6 Weeks

Focus

Solution Architect Experience

Key Findings:


  • Expectation that architects should have access to all roles by default

  • Need for audit capabilities to cross-reference permissions

  • Role emulation was critical - architects needed to "test drive" permissions

Phase 2: User Experience Testing (Closed Beta)

Participants

5 additional customers

Duration

6 Weeks

Focus

End-user experience and story creation

Key Findings:


  • Story creation workflow needed simplification

  • Training materials were essential for adoption

  • Users needed clearer distinction between global and local data

Phase 3: Iterative Refinement

Based on feedback, we wanted to implement:


  • Improved Role definition process

  • Clearer overview of role permissions and access levels

  • Role Emulation where Solution Architects can view stories as any role for testing

Design Solution

Adapting feedback to enhance the RBA experience

Working with our Senior Developer, I designed distinct sections and features that form the core of the Solution Architect experience:

Roles

Purpose: Define roles and configure access permissions

Top level visualisation.

Solution Architects can quickly see an overview of the role and its dependencies.

Granular controls.

Powerful filtering, easy to understand role definition structure

Results

Increased interactivity, such as collapsable headings and real-visual permission previews, reduced configuration time and minimised user errors. By enabling finer-grained permissions (e.g., advanced filters and read-write permissions), adoption increased, as architects could now tailor roles to precise team needs without relying on IT support.

Increased interactivity, such as collapsable headings and real-visual permission previews, reduced configuration time and minimised user errors. By enabling finer-grained permissions (e.g., advanced filters and read-write permissions), adoption increased, as architects could now tailor roles to precise team needs without relying on IT support.

Stories

Purpose: Oversee all solution stories and permissions

In SharpCloud, "Stories" are the fundamental document types of the app. It's a visual canvas where you can arrange information, connect data points, and build narratives to explore complex issues and make informed decisions. 

Relevant data for relevant users.

Stories within a solution use "scopes" to pull only relevant data from the Data Pool.

Top level control.

Easy access to all data points, allowing solution architects to keep track of the data in the solution.

Results

Increased interactivity, such as collapsable headings and real-visual permission previews, reduced configuration time and minimised user errors. By enabling finer-grained permissions (e.g., advanced filters and read-write permissions), adoption increased, as architects could now tailor roles to precise team needs without relying on IT support.

Increased interactivity, such as collapsable headings and real-visual permission previews, reduced configuration time and minimised user errors. By enabling finer-grained permissions (e.g., advanced filters and read-write permissions), adoption increased, as architects could now tailor roles to precise team needs without relying on IT support.

Emulation

Purpose: Allow Solution Architects to validate what other roles would see

Organisational transparency.

One-click role emulation allowing architects to preview any user's exact experience

Results

Empowered Solution Architects to test and verify permissions in real-time, ensuring data and role permissions behave as intended. By simulating any user’s exact access level, without manual environment switching, architects are able to prevent misconfigurations by catching over-provisioned or broken permissions early.


Implementation & Impact

Technical collaboration

Worked closely with senior developers to ensure:

  • Scalable architecture for enterprise data volumes

  • Performant role switching and emulation

  • Secure permission inheritance systems

Business impact

  • $700k ARR expansion from existing customer upgrades

  • Faster onboarding for new Solution Architects

  • Improved user satisfaction in closed Beta testing

Lessons learned

The importance of user-centric design

The most impactful features came from deep user understanding, not technical capabilities. Role emulation emerged as the critical feature because we listened to how solution architects actually worked.

The most impactful features came from deep user understanding, not technical capabilities. Role emulation emerged as the critical feature because we listened to how solution architects actually worked.

Iterative testing pays off

Our closed alpha and beta programs provided invaluable feedback that shaped the final product. User testing revealed assumptions that needed correction.

Enterprise UX requires different thinking

The most impactful features came from deep user understanding, not technical capabilities. Role emulation emerged as the critical feature because we listened to how solution architects actually worked.

The most impactful features came from deep user understanding, not technical capabilities. Role emulation emerged as the critical feature because we listened to how solution architects actually worked.