Overview
Systone Iterations is a federal contractor for CMS (Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services). We are working on a project called batCAVE, which is a PaaS that solves the problem of online collaboration within the CMS umbrella, to save time & inject efficiency for ADOs (Application Developer Organizations) to get ATO (Authorization to Operate).
What is batCAVE?
besides the Batman spoiler alert! Simply put, it is the ability to Dev-Sec-Ops continuously.
Joe Biden's
Executive Order
In May 2021, the White House issued an executive order regarding Zero Trust Architecture to reduce data breaches.
CMS batCAVE
Project. batCAVE was born under HHS/CMS umbrella that will reduce data breaches through a modern IT infrastructure. Cloud migration & digital transformation will be introduced.
PaaS
On this platform, the ADOs (Application Developer Organizations) will be able to get ATO (Authorization to Operate) without the traditional delay in a responsive real-time, PaaS (Platform as a Service) environment.
Continuous
Authorization
Verification
Engine
The Problem
CMS is almost the size of the 9th biggest country in the world, in terms of revenue turnover. ADOs take forever to get ATO & due to this lag, Dev-Sec-Ops becomes tough. It causes data breaches & security lapses/intrusions.
Dev
Development is an extensive process that requires time, resources, and updates to manifest seamlessly in CMS environment.
Sec
Security is the main proposition behind batCAVE. The challenge was to keep strengthening the networks withoutout downtime.
OPS
Operations is the area that often suffers as a consequence of intrusion. The downtime it faces leads to more leakages and breaches.
The Solution
We need a PaaS that is going to make the ATO faster and from there, it will inject efficient Dev-Sec-Ops and thereby more secure infrastructure.
As a Product Designer, my responsibilities include UX Research, PaaS info architecture & site navigation.
The idea is to foster faster ATO (Authorization to Operate) to ADOs (Application Development Organizations) through inter-agency DEV-SEC-OPS collaboration.
The Challenge
CMS is divided into four key agencies. The ADOs, Security, Operations & C Suite. Their needs are different but they have to collaborate, coordinate, communicate & interact to get their projects completed.
batNerve
The Process
We interview each key stakeholder from every agency and understand their needs & challenges that often overlap, and sometimes complement. From there we develop an information architecture for our PaaS that will unify their efforts and help them achieve their goals faster, efficiently, and without any identification-related data breaches.
UX Research
The UX Research is an ongoing enhancement part. The roles transcend and overlap- therefore it is useful to regularly conduct UX interviews, in order to empathize with the needs and challenges; as the operations undergo around the clock.
There are a wide variety of techniques and models adopted in order to understand the black box of requirements that the users might encounter as they embrace the fresh navigational organization on batCAVE.
Groups & Archetypes
DevSecOps Model
Archetype Roles
Empathy Maps
The Obstacle
We have two key obstacles.
a. We are doing Cloud migration as well as digital transformation while building up batCAVE.
b. We are executing the PaaS, while continuing the Dev-Sec-Ops process.
Dev-Sec-Ops Space.
CMS is the size of the 9th biggest country in the world. It is a challenge to exist in a multi-agency environment with concurrent Dev-Sec-Ops. The double diamond elaborates on the need for CAVE.
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Marketing Website
As a Product Designer, part of my routine is regular check-ins and status updates with the marketing team. The purpose is to monitor and plan the adoption, conversion, and functionality of not only the platform but facilitate the marketing team in achieving their periodic targets.
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This includes empathizing with the potential subscribers and how they will activate the business part of it.
Website Timeline
The marketing timeline is distributed through the phases of lead generation to conceptualization, scoping, and scaling navigation, while testing of the site before launch.
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Lead generation includes a podcast that is driving the subscriber base toward an ADO lead potential.
Tools
Design | Project | Communication
The tools are categorized into Design, Project Management & Research applications.
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Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Figma, Jira, Coda & Slack are the most used in the stack.
The Outcome
We are closely working with 6 other federal contractors who are contributing from the engineering front. Translating the archetype needs with crisp navigation is helping the project evolve.
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Since ADOs are independent providers, I also work with the marketing team to empathize with their needs as batCAVE is a subscription-based service.
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batCAVE is rolling out productively and we already have a deep subscriber base who are already eagerly anticipating the launch.
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As a Product Designer, I have to work with UX Directors (UX studies), Engineering partners (technical end), and the marketing operation (brand/revenue) to bring it all together.
