Sevco Security
11 Usability Insights
TL;DR
My UX research team from the University of Washington partnered with Sevco Security to ensure their new Exposure Management dashboard helps security teams prioritize vulnerabilities effectively.
Through usability testing and stakeholder interviews, we identified key issues around users' ability to filter exposure data, understand dashboard terminology, and take action directly within the interface.
MY ROLE
I worked as a UX Researcher on a 3-month research project with Sevco's designers and customer success manager. I led analysis, delivered research findings, and co-authored the final report, which we presented to the entire Sevco team—directly informing their roadmap and planned feature improvements.
IMPACT
Duration
3 months
(Jan. 2025 - Mar. 2025)
Team
Chang Zeng
Jen Zhang
Lori cai
Key Findings.
Users lacked the ability to tailor the Exposure Management dashboard to their roles and workflows—slowing down vulnerability analysis.
Users had to switch pages to take actions (e.g., create tickets). We recommended this redesigned IA to streamline their workflow.
Inconsistent icons, unclear filters, and vague severity labels made it hard for users to quickly interpret key information.
RESEARCH TOPIC
Improving Exposure Management Dashboard.
Sevco Security's upcoming feature, Exposure Management, helps cybersecurity experts track the full lifecycle of security vulnerabilities—from discovery and prioritization to remediation and validation.
THE PROBLEM
Unclear user experience of a new feature.
Sevco had released Exposure Management to early users but didn’t know if it fit their workflows or met their needs.
RESEARCH GOAL
What we wanted to learn.
OUR APPROACH
Moderated remote testing + think-aloud protocol + post-test survey.
We used moderated think-aloud sessions to observe real-time behaviors and uncover users’ thought processes as they navigated the dashboard.
PARTICIPANT SUMMARY
Who we spoke with.
We selected participants with a mix of seniority and hands-on experience. Our group included CISOs, senior security leaders, and junior analysts—with 3 participants already familiar with the Exposure Management feature.
METHODOLOGY
Task 1: Interpret the EM dashboard.
We evaluated how well users could interpret the dashboard data, such as exposure types, severity levels, and device-user links. We found hesitation, misinterpretations around iconography and labels.
METHODOLOGY
Task 2: Find the most affected devices.
Participants struggled to assess the significance of affected devices, interpret status categories, and filter high-priority issues quickly. This highlighted a need for clearer labeling, better grouping logic, and visibility into device importance.
RESEARCH ANALYSIS
Step 1: Turning 500+ notes into recurring themes.
I synthesized over 500+ raw observations collected from usability testing into clear, actionable insights. I started by organizing individual notes from each session into structured formats.
RESEARCH ANALYSIS
Step 2: Collaborative pain point affinity mapping & journey mapping
I then led the team through a collaborative affinity mapping session to cluster insights, align on key pain points, and co-create a user journey map that highlighted pain points at each stage of the workflow.
RECOMMENDATIONS #1
Let users define what matters.
Security teams have different priorities based on role, risk appetite, and workflow. We recommended enabling custom dashboards and saved queries so users can focus on what’s most relevant to them.
RECOMMENDATIONS #2
Help users track and act without disruption.
Analysts lost focus switching pages to check statuses or start remediation. We recommended clearer status visibility and in-dashboard ticket creation to keep actions seamless.
RECOMMENDATIONS #3
Clarify the language of the interface.
Users struggled with unclear icons and layout. We recommended adding severity text, consistent hover tooltips, and better spacing to improve clarity.
Actionability Drives Usability: Users prioritize features that allow them to take immediate action (e.g., ticket creation, status updates) directly within the Exposure Management page, reducing reliance on navigating to other sections like Live Inventory.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Working with a multidisciplinary team and presenting to Sevco stakeholders taught me how to synthesize diverse perspectives, balance user needs with product priorities, and communicate research findings clearly to drive actionable decisions.
Sevco is currently implementing key recommendations, including customizable dashboard views, tag-based filtering, and enhanced device criticality scoring.