You know how frustrating it is when a client calls you about their website being down and you’re completely in the dark? It’s like a punch to the gut especially if you’re a busy agency owner or developer juggling multiple projects.
But what if you could catch those issues before they even impact your clients? That’s where Site Monitoring comes in and it’s not just a technical marvel it’s a story of collaboration design thinking and customer-centricity.
Tired of being the last one to know when your site goes down? 😴 Stop playing whack-a-mole with website issues! Get proactive with Site Monitoring and say goodbye to client panic!
The Genesis of Site Monitoring
Tired of being the last one to know when your site goes down? 😴 Stop playing whack-a-mole with website issues! Get proactive with Site Monitoring and say goodbye to client panic!
I’ve been working with WP Engine for a while and we’ve always prided ourselves on delivering excellent hosting solutions.
But we knew we could do better in terms of proactive site management.
That’s where Kate our UX researcher stepped in.
She’s a master of user research and design thinking and she really helped us understand what our users wanted and needed.
Delving into User Needs
Kate started by conducting interviews with a diverse group of WP Engine users from agency owners to individual developers.
She wanted to understand their everyday challenges their goals and their pain points when it came to managing their websites.
One of the major themes that emerged was the desire for a single tool that could monitor and maintain their sites proactively alerting them to potential issues before they became major problems.
It was like hearing an echo of our own frustration with those dreaded client calls.
Turning Insights into Action
Kate’s research provided us with the valuable insights we needed to move forward.
This wasn’t just about building a cool new feature; it was about addressing a real need for our customers.
The next step was to ideate and come up with a solution.
That’s where Kameron our Senior Product Designer took the reins.
Designing for User Experience
Kameron is a brilliant designer who really understands how to create intuitive user-friendly interfaces.
He worked closely with our engineering team to ensure that our solution was technically feasible and aligned with our users’ needs.
Iterative Design and User Feedback
We knew that user feedback was crucial so we released Site Monitoring to a closed beta group gathering valuable insights and iterating on the design based on their feedback.
It was like a constant dance between design and research ensuring that we were building the right product in the right way.
The Importance of Collaboration
I want to highlight the importance of collaboration between design research and engineering.
It was through this close partnership that we were able to overcome challenges refine our product and deliver a solution that truly met the needs of our users.
Diving into Site Monitoring: A Technical Overview
Now let’s get a bit technical.
Site Monitoring leverages the power of New Relic a leading monitoring and alerting platform to provide comprehensive website insights.
The Site Monitoring Agent: A Key Component
At the heart of our solution lies the Site Monitoring Agent an intermediate layer that acts as a bridge between our user portal and New Relic’s APIs.
This agent ensures that monitors and alerts are created updated and deleted seamlessly while also reconciling any potential errors.
User Flows: From Signup to Monitoring
Let’s walk through a typical user flow.
When a user signs up for Site Monitoring the system first verifies their entitlement.
Once confirmed they can create a monitor through our user portal.
Behind the scenes the Site Monitoring Agent sends a request to New Relic’s Synthetics API provisioning the monitor.
Access to Real-Time Data and Insights
Users can access valuable real-time data including historical uptime average response times and error logs directly from the portal.
This data is retrieved through New Relic’s NerdGraph API facilitated by the Site Monitoring Agent.
A Robust System with Future Potential
Site Monitoring is a powerful tool that empowers our customers with proactive site management.
It’s built on a solid foundation and we have exciting plans for the future including:
- Adding Slack and SMS Alert Channels: We’re expanding our alert channels to provide even more flexibility and convenience for our users.
- Enhancing Configuration Options: We’ll be providing users with more granular control over their monitors and alerts.
- Continued User Interface Enhancements: We’ll continue to iterate on the user interface based on user feedback ensuring a seamless and intuitive user experience.
DE{CODE}: A Celebration of Innovation and Collaboration
We’re incredibly proud to launch Site Monitoring at DE{CODE} our annual developer conference.
This event is a celebration of innovation collaboration and the power of the WordPress community.
It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved from our UX researchers and designers to our engineers.
Site Monitoring is more than just a new feature; it’s a testament to our commitment to providing our customers with the best possible tools and support.
By listening to our users collaborating effectively and embracing cutting-edge technology we’re able to deliver solutions that empower them to build remarkable online experiences.
Tired of being the last one to know when your site goes down? 😴 Stop playing whack-a-mole with website issues! Get proactive with Site Monitoring and say goodbye to client panic!