Curation Over Clutter
Founding Product Designer
Armada
Edge Computing
Asset-management marketplaces had become app graveyards, hundreds of tools burying the few that mattered.
So we designed and built the App Marketplace inside Commander: a curated store that gets operators from searching to deployed in minutes, not hours.
THE OUTCOME
THE OUTCOME
3X
3X
More apps explored per visit
More apps explored per visit
<2 min
<2 min
To find a relevant app
To find a relevant app
+50%
+50%
Paid app downloads
Paid app downloads
"I'd spend half an hour vetting an app before I even knew whether it would install cleanly."
"I'd spend half an hour vetting an app before I even knew whether it would install cleanly."
"I'd spend half an hour vetting an app before I even knew whether it would install cleanly."
— Asset Manager
THE INSIGHT
THE INSIGHT
More apps wasn't more value, it was the problem.
More apps wasn't more value, it was the problem.
More apps wasn't more value, it was the problem.
The marketplace treated volume as the selling point: hundreds of third-party tools, ever-growing. But to an operator, that pile was the friction.
So the job wasn't to help people dig faster, it was to give them a smaller, curated pile in the first place. Value came from what we left out.
Interviews and a fleet-wide survey surfaced the predictable asks: visibility, faster troubleshooting, unified alerts. The insight underneath them was the one that mattered: every number shown without a recommended action added load, not removed it.
That turned Commander from a dashboard into a decision surface and set the direction for everything after.
The marketplace treated volume as the selling point: hundreds of third-party tools, ever-growing. But to an operator, that pile was the friction.
So the job wasn't to help people dig faster, it was to give them a smaller, curated pile in the first place. Value came from what we left out.
WHAT THE RESEARCH SHOWED
WHAT THE RESEARCH SHOWED
50%
50%
50%
couldn't find relevant tools
couldn't find relevant tools
struggled to identify what fit their workflow
struggled to identify what fit their workflow
45 min+
45 min+
45 min+
to evaluate & deploy one app
to evaluate & deploy one app
per third-party tool, start to finish
from first alert
to fix
per third-party tool, start to finish
100+
100+
100+
apps cluttering the store
apps cluttering the store
low usage or unclear utility
low usage or unclear utility
THE DECISION
Curate first, search second.
Curate first, search second.
Curate first, search second.
The first fix was better search and filtering, help operators sift the 100+ apps faster. I explored it, but it only optimized the symptom; a faster path through low-value tools still ended in low-value tools.
So I led with curation, a hand-picked catalog of high-impact tools, then layered smart search on top and collapsed install into one-click deployment. The trade: less breadth, far less time-to-value.
The first fix was better search and filtering, help operators sift the 100+ apps faster. I explored it, but it only optimized the symptom; a faster path through low-value tools still ended in low-value tools.
So I led with curation, a hand-picked catalog of high-impact tools, then layered smart search on top and collapsed install into one-click deployment. The trade: less breadth, far less time-to-value.
BUILD AND SHIP
Building it.
Building it.
Building it.
I built the Marketplace inside Commander's design system, and worked directly with engineering to ship one-click deployment, collapsing a multi-step install and its compatibility headaches into a single action. Design and end moved together, so the experience shipped the way it was designed.
I built the Marketplace inside Commander's design system, and worked directly with engineering to ship one-click deployment, collapsing a multi-step install and its compatibility headaches into a single action. Design and end moved together, so the experience shipped the way it was designed.
SELECTED SCREENS
Fewer, better, by default.
Fewer, better, by default.
A hand-picked catalog of high-impact tools replaces the endless third-party pile, the curation is the feature.
A hand-picked catalog of high-impact tools replaces the endless third-party pile, the curation is the feature.
Fewer, better, by default.
A hand-picked catalog of high-impact tools replaces the endless third-party pile, the curation is the feature.
Search that anticipates.
Search that anticipates.
Relevant suggestions and filters surface the right tool instead of more scrolling.
Relevant suggestions and filters surface the right tool instead of more scrolling.
Search that anticipates.
Relevant suggestions and filters surface the right tool instead of more scrolling.
From found to deployed in one click.
From found to deployed in one click.
The multi-step install and its compatibility headaches, collapses into a single action.
The multi-step install and its compatibility headaches, collapses into a single action.
From found to deployed in one click.
The multi-step install and its compatibility headaches, collapses into a single action.