Gantt Chart
Visual timeline for managing complex dependencies but felt heavy for quick, everyday use.
Great for detailed project tracking.
Required training; not ideal for simple workflows.
Impact
Enabled visual scheduling for 10K+ weekly backup jobs, reducing failure risks and improving resource planning
Team
UX Designer (HFI)
Experience Design Group (Dell In-house)
IDS Team (Dell In-house)
UI/Dev Team (Dell In-house)
Timeline
Overview
Designed a simpler and more efficient way for users in Dell PPDM to visually manage job timelines, tasks, and resource allocation that helped in improving clarity and reducing scheduling complexity.
My Contribution
As the Lead Designer, I was responsible for:
Understanding how scheduling worked in the existing PPDM flow
Identifying key user pain points
Exploring and defining new design directions for better usability
Let’s understand Santorini - What is it, and why is it being built?
PPDM has worked well for years, but like any tech, it needed to evolve. That’s where Dell’s Santorini project comes in.
Santorini is the next-generation version of Dell PPDM - built to scale better, work faster, and support enterprise needs with smarter workflows.
Think of it as a major upgrade to the existing PPDM, offering:
Better performance
Cleaner architecture
Easier ways to manage complex data operations
The existing PPDM faced challenges like:
Missing features compared to competitors
Slow performance during heavy backup schedules
Limited visibility into job scheduling and success rates
Santorini was designed to solve these gaps and modernize the experience - evolving from PPDM’s foundation into its complete replacement.
1
Before moving into design, we first needed to clearly define what problems we were solving.
We conducted user interviews with 5 backup admins and 3 system engineers, and reviewed competitor dashboards to learn:
What data users rely on in their daily workflows
Where the current PPDM experience caused friction
How we could make the new design scalable and efficient
Key Decisions from This Phase
2
Before jumping into final designs, we explored multiple directions for how the schedule could be visualized.
The goal was to balance clarity, ease of use, and scalability - without overwhelming the user.
I led the comparison study and evaluated both options with the product and engineering teams to identify which best supported user workflows.
After brainstorming and internal discussions, we focused on two primary design directions:
Gantt Chart and Calendar View.
Calendar View
Simple, intuitive layout displaying key dates and milestones.
Quick to understand, easy to scan.
Limited for very large, multi-project tracking.
Key Decision from This Phase
After comparing both directions, we chose the Calendar View.
It offered a familiar, lightweight experience that helped users understand job schedules at a glance addressing the main usability issue we identified in research.
3
Pattern Review & Final Designs
Because the Calendar view wasn’t part of the existing design system, I collaborated with the core design team to review and standardize new patterns.
This helped ensure that any future use of calendars across the product would stay consistent, scalable, and system-friendly.
Our goal wasn’t just to deliver a new feature - it was to strengthen and evolve the Dell IDS design system.
Final Screens
4
These initial designs will roll out during the early phases of Santorini.
As users adapt, we plan to evolve the feature into its North Star version adding more flexibility and control.
What the North Star Will Include:
Granular Views
Add week and day modes for detailed tracking
More Job Categories
Support growing backup types and complexity
Inline Actions
Allow users to create and manage schedules directly from the calendar
Final Thoughts:
Designing the Schedule Visualization feature for Santorini was a step forward in making backup task management more visual and intuitive.
Through this project, I learned the value of designing for scalability ensuring that new features not only solve today’s problems but also strengthen the foundation for future growth.