Personal Project 3:
Canary for Admins
I SIMPLIFY.
Not everyone has time to analyze dashboards.
But Canary cuts through the noise.
With clean, simplified insights for admins.
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Lesson Learned
Key Insights
Hi-Fidelity Prototype
Lo-Fidelity Prototype
Brainstorm Solutions
Opportunity
Challenge
Initial Insights
Discovery
Research
Ideation
Prototype
Reflect
UX Process
Competitive Analysis
The Why
Hypothesis
DISCOVERY
What is a SIEM Dashboard?
This tool is a centralized dashboard that shows and visualizes security events, logs and threats , helping analysts monitor, detect and respond to potential security incidents in real time.
Initial Insights
During initial research, I realized that because residential buildings rely on building admins to manage these cyber threats, if any. As a result, But they may not be technical experts, making analyzing these dashboards very difficult.
Hypothesis
What If we redesign the security dashboard in a way that even non-technical users can use and maintain the security posture of the building.
Understanding the Challenge and Opportunity
RESEARCH
Timeline
Feb 2025 - Mar 2025
The Opportunity
To redesign the security dashboard that offers clear, actionable insights for building admins to protect the apartment building even without technical expertise.
The Challenge
To help building admins find a way to secure the networks of shared infrastructures of an residential building
Tools
Figma & Notion
Role & Responsibilities
Solo UX/UI Designer
Competitor Analysis
RESEARCH
I researched some industry-standard SIEM dashboards from companies like Splunk and Elastic (ELK) in order to decide what analyze the most important features in a dashboard should have.
Enterprise SIEM tool that collects, analyzes and visualizes data for real-time threat detection.
Splunk
Open-source dashboard for searching, visualizing and monitoring log data in real life.
Elastic (ELK)
Strengths:
Powerful data analysis for log management, and threat analysis.
Customizable dashboards to meet security needs.
Weaknesses:
Steep learning curve as the interface can be too overwhelming for non-technical users
Alert fatigue as it can generate high volumes of alerts.
Compared to Canary:
Splunk is the industry-standard and enterprise-level SIEM tool which has a lot of credibility amongst technical experts, but is too complex for non-expert use.
Canary aims to bring enterprise-level protection to everyday users by simplifying SIEM concepts so they can understand.
Strengths:
Open-sourced for everyone to use, with paid features for deeper functionalities.
Real-Time data processing
Weaknesses:
Complex configurations that require technical expertise.
Compared to Canary:
Elastic (ELK) requires technical expertise but Canary offers non-technical simplicity while having the same levels of security insights.
What I Propose…
IDEATION
Creating an environment where admins can customize what they need depending on their preference while having further actionable insights on how to maintain security posture.
Customizable with relevant metrics and data and keeping the interface clean and easy to navigate
Customizable & Minimal Layout
Alerts users and provide actionable steps to empower non-technical users to respond confidently
Guided Actions & Recommendations
"Solution 2"
"Solution 1"
PROTOTYPE
Lo-Fidelity Prototype
SAFETY SCORE (residents)
6
/10
Macbook Pro
REPORT FEED
Report #230
N.411 reported suspicious behaviour
Report #229
Recording
Report #228
Watching, Recording
Report #227
Querying
Report #226
John Dor logged from a new device
Report #225
Possible Breach HVAC
Report #224
N.5111 reported suspicious behaviour
Report #223
New Device Logged in
Report #222
N.411 reported suspicious behaviour
Report #221
Reported
Report #220
Probing, Querying
Report #219
N.411 reported suspicious behaviour
Report #218
N.411 reported suspicious behaviour
Report #217
Refresh Scan
Report #216
Possible Breach HVAC
Report #215
N.411 reported suspicious behaviour
Report #214
N.411 reported suspicious behaviour
Report #213
N.411 reported suspicious behaviour
Report #212
N.411 reported suspicious behaviour
Filter
March 1, 2025 - April 1, 2025
Dashboard
SAFETY SCORE (admins)
USER DEVICES
SECURITY CALENDAR
8
/10
THREAT DETECTION CHART
Monthly
Yearly
Daily
February 20, 2025
Mon
Wed
Sat
No scan
Tues
Scanned
Fri
Thurs
Sun
Hi-Fidelity Prototype
Looking Back…
REFLECT
Key Insights & Wins:
Lesson Learned:
Taking on the entire design process solo taught me the importance of staying organized, adapting quickly, and prioritizing tasks in order to maintain progress.
Since it is a conceptual project, I learned that leveraging AI tools to help with research can boost inspiration and efficiency to streamline my UX process
I learned that designing for non-technical users requires balancing simplicity with functionality which pushed me to think more creatively on how to make a complex system feel more intuitive for everyone.
I took on the challenge of designing all of Canary features on my own, from start to finish. It was a lot to handle but it pushed me to think creatively and stay organized.
Diving into the security market was a new experience, but I quickly figured out where the gaps were and how to address them through design.
I focused on creating a clean and customizable laout that felt intuitive and adaptable while making sure that there are actionable insights and help for admins to be able to navigate.