ASTRATO · INSIGHTS & DATA VISUALIZATION PLATFORM · PRODUCT DESIGN

Forty features. Two pods. One system.

An insights and data-visualization platform for business decisions. I worked across two pods, shipped 40+ features, and owned the design system underneath them.

ROLE · LEAD PRODUCT DESIGNER · UX ENGINEER
SCOPE · 40+ FEATURES · 2 PODS
RANGE · RENEWALS · NEW FEATURES · NEW SECTIONS

The problem, live. This was the join canvas.

Sales 19
⚷Customerkey
#Orders
£Revenue
Customers 15
⚷Customerkey
◫Geography
◔Birthdate
Calendar 18
⚷Month Year
◫Period
#Weeknumber
Products 22
⚷Productkey
◫Category
£Unit price
BEFORE · every join fights for the same lane; lines cross tables they don't touch, and every connection is forced left-to-right. Reading a model means untangling it first.
THREE STORIES FROM 40+
HOW THE WORK SPLIT

Two pods, one designer.

POD 01

Data Visualization

The surfaces where insights become decisions: charts, dashboards, and the AI-powered assistant that turns questions into visualizations.

POD 02

Data Preparation

Where the raw material gets shaped: the Data Explorer, join canvas, and model views that analysts live in before a single chart exists.

The two pod team cards: Preptors and Viz-Beans
The two pods · Preptors and Viz-Beans (one designer: me)TEAMS
0+features delivered across two pods
0clicks to create a join, down from a maze
+0%time-to-insight reduced (AI assistant)
+0%user adoption increased

Three stories from the 40+: a feature improved, a feature born, and the system that kept everything consistent.

CASE 01 · IMPROVING AN EXISTING FEATURE

The Data Explorer, untangled.

Data comes from everywhere; the join workspace made combining it painful. Overlapping join lines made models unreadable, and connections were locked left-to-right. Reading a model meant untangling it first.

4 clicksto create a join
+25%data-join precision
−20%accidental clicks per task
+50%join quality

Working with the grain of the tech

Most issues were rooted in technical limitations. My job was to understand them deeply, then design around them without compromising the experience.

Watching real users struggle, on tape

UserTesting recordings and attention heatmaps drove the redesign. The clutter wasn't an opinion; it was measurable.

UserTesting sessions and attention heatmaps on the join canvas
UserTesting sessions + attention heatmaps · the evidenceRESEARCH
Six UserTesting sessions with analysts
Six analysts on tape · UserTesting sessionsRESEARCH
Usability test and interview results
Usability results · what the redesign fixedRESEARCH
WATCH IT MOVE

The canvas, in motion.

The redesigned Data Explorer doing its job: tables dropped anywhere, joins connecting from any side, four clicks from raw tables to a readable model. This is the flow the UserTesting sessions said was impossible before.

CASE 02 · A NEW FEATURE FROM BUSINESS NEEDS

From raw data to answers, guided.

The hardest part of insights is knowing what to ask. Users get handed huge datasets and no starting point. We built an AI assistant that bridges raw data and an actionable answer.

HOW IT ENGAGES

One question, three depths.

Type a question; get a visualization as measures and dimensions. Then it meets each user at their level:

SQL MODE see how the query is structured; modify it if you speak SQL
FILTER MODE tweak and refine the data selection interactively
NATURAL LANGUAGE insights converted to human-readable explanations
ASTRATO · AI INSIGHT · TRY A PROMPT
Hi. Ask me about your data. Pick a prompt below to see how a question becomes a visualization.
SALES BY TERRITORY
+68%time-to-insight reduced
+52%query accuracy improved
+70%user adoption increased
−44%error rate in data queries
AI insight interface
Prompt → measures & dimensionsUI
AI insight interface: refinement
Refining scope · include / exclude tablesUI
CASE 03 · OWNING THE SYSTEM UNDERNEATH

Components that hold the line.

Design system ownership

Full ownership of the component libraries for my products. New components only when necessary: restraint is what keeps a system a system.

Shipped exactly as designed

Shipped exactly as designed: the payoff of talking to engineers every day from day one, not at handoff.

Component specification sheet: join controls
Component specs · join controls, toolbars, statesDESIGN SYSTEM
Sixteen workbook editor screens
Workbook surfaces · a sample of the 40+SHIPPED
The shipped Astrato product with Astrato Insights panel and Snowflake connections
The shipped product · Astrato Insights, Snowflake-nativeSHIPPED

Because the back-and-forth never stopped, development was seamless. The shipped product was a direct reflection of the design.

THE COLLABORATION DIVIDEND
Enlarged screen