Battery Life Diagnostic Tool: Boosting Enterprise Laptop Performance through UX-Driven Insights
As Lead UX Designer and Researcher, I guided the development of a battery life diagnostic tool designed for enterprise laptops. Through cross-functional collaboration and embedded user experience consulting, I validated the tool’s usability, identified key metrics for diagnostics reporting, and coached a mentee in UX practices for ongoing support. The work supported engineers in identifying battery degradation culprits and optimizing enterprise system builds, directly contributing to improved device performance and expanded business value.
Battery Life Diagnostic Tool production interface
Background
Enterprise users increasingly demand better laptop performance, with all-day battery life ranking as a top priority. However, custom IT build environments often degrade battery performance, leaving IT teams without clear insights into the root causes.
To address this, the Battery Life Diagnostic Tool was developed to help IT engineers identify which background processes or applications are causing excessive power drain. Unlike standard power benchmarking tools that only measure overall consumption, this tool pinpoints specific culprits, such as apps that keep the CPU from reaching low power states, allowing for more targeted optimizations.
Testimonial
" Thank you very much for your dedication, effort and help for the Battery Life tool. Your expertise helped our team understand our customers’ needs and improve the tools’ impact."
— Developer Teammate
My Role
UX Design Lead, Lead Researcher, Design Coach
I led UX strategy, facilitated research and design activities, mentored an internal UX-aspiring partner, and collaborated with a multidisciplinary team including product, engineering, and sales professionals.
Process
Discovery & Alignment
Facilitated a Design Thinking / Innovation workshop with engineering, product, and sales
Surfaced assumptions, aligned on tool goals, and kicked off collaborative ideation
Workshop Whiteboard
Whiteboarding alongside mentee
Initial Mockup
Future state vision (from Workshop actitvity)
Design & Expert Evaluation
Created and refined multiple interactive prototypes
Multi-step wizard for diagnostics workflow
Visual reporting dashboard to highlight power-hungry processes
Data-rich report: surfaced key battery culprits via clear visuals
Conducted expert evaluation of the initial Beta/Demo version
Initial Prototype - Start Screen
Beta Version - Start Screen
Initial Prototype - Reporting Feature
Beta Version - Reporting Feature
Iterative User Validation from Targeted Segments (PC deployment engineers and IT team managers)
Conducted two rounds of hybrid user feedback sessions (interviews + usability testing)
Evaluated targeted UX benchmarks to track ease of use, clarity, and reporting feature value
High-level UX Plan Timeline
User Feedback Sessions Overview
Key Results
Validated user need: Battery performance challenges were widespread in IT-managed systems
Process understood: 100% of participants successfully navigated the tool workflow
High report utility: All users found the diagnostics reporting feature valuable for decision-making
Enterprise Battery Life Tool - Initial Baseline Metrics
Impact
Sales enablement: Tool used as a value-add differentiator in enterprise PC sales
Performance Optimization: Internal IT teams used findings to boost enterprise battery life
Validated market fit: Tool usefulness and value affirmed by users across multiple geographies and segments
Built UX capacity: Coached and trained an internal partner, extending UX reach in the business
Testimonial
" I wanted to say how grateful I am for the opportunity to work with you, it's been a pleasure! Having the opportunity to learn from you has made a substantial impact on my experience...I greatly appreciate the collaboration we shared, the brainstorming, the long hours, the jokes, and the smart tips and tricks you shared with me! "
— UX Mentee