• Alianza UC App

  • Alianza UC App

  • Alianza UC App

Desktop App

Role

Design Lead

Alianza

Year

2024

Introduction

When I joined Alianza, the company was in a state of transition, having lost its entire UX team. As the sole designer for the company, I stepped in during a time when Alianza was racing to design, develop, and launch their own unified communications tool—the Alianza UC App.

This application was intended to offer video meetings, messaging, voice calls, and contact management, positioning it as a competitor to Microsoft Teams but optimized for telecom service providers.

While initial designs had been created by a previous team, they were incomplete and not scalable for the full functionality the app needed. The company was in a rush to ship, so we initially built on top of those designs. However, as development progressed, it became clear that the existing design could not effectively support all features, leading to significant usability challenges.

The Alianza Unified Communications app offers video meetings, messaging, voice calls and contact management for telecom service providers.

The Problem

Navigation & Hierarchy Issues:

The existing layout lacked clear separation between global app actions and contextual actions.

Users frequently confused buttons “Meet Now” (a global action to start a new meeting) vs. “Join Meeting” (a contextual action within a specific meeting view). This led to frustration and slowed down workflows.


Visual Design & Branding:

The initial UI felt too stale and corporate, failing to convey the modern, user-friendly experience we wanted.

Additionally, it missed opportunities to introduce stronger branding elements, particularly for white-label customers looking to customize the experience.

Given that the Alianza UC App is a critical sales tool, the leadership team wanted it to make a strong first impression on potential customers.


Scalability & Consistency:

As new features were being added, the lack of a clear component library made design inconsistencies more pronounced.

Developers struggled to implement a cohesive interface due to the piecemeal approach of the original designs.

UI Revamp Process

With leadership buy-in to improve the UI, I took the lead in orchestrating the redesign while ensuring rapid implementation. Here’s how we approached it:


1. Collaboration & Ideation

I partnered with the UX designer responsible for the Alianza UC App, and we conducted whiteboarding sessions to address layout and hierarchy issues.

Through these sessions, we developed multiple solutions that clarified the difference between global actions (e.g., Meet Now) and contextual actions (e.g., Join Meeting).


2. Solution Refinement & Approval

After iterating on different designs, we settled on an approach that provided clearer separation between global and contextual elements.

We presented the refined concept to the product team, gaining buy-in who were on board with the improvements and got the changes prioritized.


3. Execution & Implementation

My team and I built out the new screens and established a component library, ensuring consistency and scalability moving forward.

The goal was to maintain all existing functionality while making the UI more intuitive and visually appealing, enabling faster development adoption.

Outcomes & Impact

While no user metrics were available, internal feedback—particularly from Alianza’s CEO and leadership—was extremely positive.

The revamped design significantly improved the app’s usability and visual appeal, making it a more powerful tool for Alianza’s sales and prospecting efforts.

The new UI provided a solid foundation for future updates, ensuring long-term scalability and ease of maintenance.

Conclusion

This UI revamp was an essential step in improving the Alianza UC App’s usability, aesthetics, and overall effectiveness. By rethinking the hierarchy, navigation, and design consistency, we transformed an incomplete and confusing interface into a polished, user-friendly product that better serves both internal teams and potential customers.

This project highlights my ability to step into a high-pressure environment, quickly assess challenges, and drive a successful redesign that aligns both business goals and user needs.