Johnson Controls
Redesigning Forensic Search for Security Operators
Timeline
Nov 2024 - May 2025
Team
2 Designers (including myself)
2 Researchers
1 Product Manager
Responsibilities/Contributions
Led end-to-end design from discovery through final implementation reviews.
Defined solution strategy with cross-functional partners, balancing user needs, business goals, and tech constraints.
Facilitated design workshops to align the team on one usability issue at a time and prevent scope creep.
Collaborated with engineers to refine edge cases and reduce design debt.
Produced the final prototypes and design proposal presentation deck.
TL;DR
Exacq is an enterprise video management security system for reviewing surveillance footage.
Challenge
Churn is rising as competitors advanced, but a full interface overhaul risked alienating loyal operators who had used the product for 20 years; how do we modernize safely?
At the same time, the core forensic search feature was underutilized because its entry point, the filter panel, was buried, forcing users to manually scrub hours of footage.
Solution
Short-term fix:
Made multiple usability fixes and to address the core feature's poor discoverability immediately, I auto-expanded the filter panel to make the search entry point visible.
Product Vision:
The long-term vision is to evolve toward a cleaner, intuitive experience that meets modern user expectations and positions the product competitively in a fast-advancing market.
Bridge between the short-term fix and the product vision:
Instead of a risky interface overhaul, I strategized the direction for lightweight, incremental changes, so the product can evolve toward that vision while continuing to serve the current user base.
Impact
By auto-expanding the filter panel to address poor discoverability, forensic search was utilized and the search speed improved 3x, reducing average task time from 15 to 5 minutes (observed in usability tests).
90% stakeholder satisfaction (post-project survey), validating the overall design direction.
This success prompted an immediate push to accelerate product updates by Q4 2025.
Prototype: Filter Panel expansion fix made to the existing interface.
Design & Business Goal
To reduce churn and stay competitive, increase the adoption of Exacq’s existing forensic search feature, without risking disruption for loyal users familiar with the current system.
Research
Identified key usability blockers through UX audit, stakeholder/user interviews, and competitor analysis, leading to targeted changes that improve feature discoverability.
UX Audit Takeaways:
Numerous obstacles prevent users from achieving their goals.
Cluttered & disorganized interface.
Unintuitive.
Hard to identify disabled buttons.
Low visibility of key components.
Competitor Analysis Takeaways:
15+ competitor analysis revealed the need for upgrading the product offering.
Less learning curve.
Simple interface.
Use of AI for assisting users.
Stakeholder/User Interviews Takeaways:
Users just use manual scrubbing as they are familiar with it.
Interface doesn't support new users.
Troublesome to explore other features.
Design Strategy
Prioritized high-impact, low-risk updates to the current UI, using each rollout as a stepping stone toward the product’s long-term vision.
If users adapt well, we scale. If not, we still improve usability without over-investing. It’s a strategic, low-risk path forward.
MVP (Short-term Solution)
Product Vision (Long-term Solution)
✅ Quick Usability Fixes
✅ Enhanced Discoverability
✅ Low Dev Lift
✅ Guided Experience
✅ Simplified Flows
✅ Scalable
Immediate Design Problem
Users (Security Operators) struggle to locate specific instances in recorded footage because the core component of the forensic search, the filter panel, is not discoverable easily.
Forensic Search is the process of reviewing recorded footage to find specific events or objects using advanced filters and search tools.
AHA Moment!
Most users had no idea a tiny checkbox labeled “Show Filters” existed, and that it was the entry point to forensic search. The feature exists but goes unused; poor visibility, weak cues, and old habits keep users scrubbing manually.
Problem Statement
As a user, I need to find a person wearing a red shirt in recorded footage, but I struggle because I have to scrub through a 2-hour-long video.
Designing the MVP (Short-term Solution)
Refine the existing workflow's UX through problem-specific design solution.
Looking back to the problem: The "Show Filters" checkbox is not at all discoverable, making the users completely unaware of it.
For a quick yet impactful update, a solution really stood out!
To eliminate a user's struggle,
How might we make the filter panel visible to users, requiring no extra effort from them?
Filters can help a user narrow down their search and can only be used when a camera has analytics capabilities.
Automatically expanding the filter panel when a user selects cameras with analytics capabilities. Improves discoverability by surfacing relevant options contextually, guiding users without overwhelming them or disrupting their flow, and making it easier for them to break out of inefficient habits like manual scrubbing, without forcing a new behavior.
Refining the Filter Panel Further
Filters can help a user narrow down their search and can only be used when a camera has analytics capabilities.
Point to be noted!
In addition to the filter panel update, I implemented a series of smaller usability improvements, such as clarifying navigation and lack of system feedback. While modest on their own, these changes collectively strengthened the product vision of simplicity, without the disruption of a full overhaul.
Happy to discuss them!
Designing the Product Vision (Long-term Solution)
The product's future vision includes a guided user flow to help users achieve their goals.
To support the product's vision of a simplified interface, designing a guided user flow is essential, especially to assist new users.
Reducing cognitive load, enhancing discoverability, and improving usability for both new and experienced users. It ensures quicker adoption, reduces the learning curve, and aligns with business goals for long-term scalability.
Explored 5+ workflows to identify the optimal solution that delivers the simplest and most intuitive experience for users.
During the early stages, I explored structure and interaction through rough sketches & lo-fi wireframes, not just to lay out components, but to challenge the decisions behind them.
A guided flow that dynamically expands as the user progresses, with all search inputs aligned to the left, ensuring a clean and intuitive experience.
This solution was optimal because it aligns with the natural psychology of users: they first start by identifying what they want to search for, the object, which is their primary focus. Then, they refine their search by selecting the time range and, if needed, the cameras. This logical progression mirrors how users typically approach searches, making the process intuitive, efficient, and reducing cognitive load for a smoother experience.
1: Initial screen prompting the user to select the object first.
Starting with the object of interest
2: Entering the prompt in the search bar.
Users can directly enter the search prompt in the search bar and adjust the filters basedon preferences. Example: search for a person wearing red shirt.
3: Entering the search range.
Example: in the last 2 hours.
4: Automatic Camera Selection.
Based on the object and time range, cameras can be selected automatically, and users can choose to modify the camera selection.
5: Displaying the search results.
Here's the search result of finding a person wearing a red shirt in the last 2 hours. Without having to scrub through the footage manually!
Testing
Tested the MVP (short-term solution), which resulted in 3x faster search for finding the target footage, from 15 to just 5 minutes of search time.
90% Stakeholder satisfaction (post-project survey) for the entire design strategy.
Ran 5 usability tests with security operators and support team members who handle user queries. Sent a stakeholder survey (post-project), with 90% expressing satisfaction with the updated workflow.
a moment captured from the executive meeting ✌️
Success
Success means users develop the habit of using the filter panel to efficiently find specific instances in recorded footage, instead of manually scrubbing through hours of video.
With the Solution 1 updates scheduled for release by FY25-Q4, the following success metrics will be used to evaluate impact:
Feature Adoption Over Time
Engagement with the Filter Panel
Time On Task (Reduction in
Manual Scrubbing)Task Completion Rate (Finding the Right Instance)
Learnings