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Project Brief
I led the design of Gitness from 0 ->1 during my tenure at Harness
The project started in Sep 2022, and successfully launched in Sep 2023 within 1 year, becoming a key component of the Harness developer experience ecosystem
My Team
I witnessed the growth of the team:
At the beginning stage: 4 members (1 PM, 1 designer, 2 engineers)
At later stage: 20+ members (3 PMs, including 1 VP of PM, 1 designer, 16+ engineers)
My Role
Design lead (I am the only designer of the team of 20)
Project Impact
Gitness is like a Swiss Army knife for developers
It combines code version management, Gen AI for code analysis, and collaboration tools all in one easy-to-use light platform
Final Solution
Domain Knowledge
Git provides the fundamental version control capabilities, Gitness leverages these capabilities and builds upon them
Git is a version control system that allows multiple people to work on a project at the same time. It helps in tracking changes to files by creating a series of snapshots, so if something goes wrong, you can go back to a previous version of your work. It's widely used in software development for managing source code history.
Target user
Humans who write codes and collaborate with team are the target user of Gitness
Imagine there is a group of engineers working together on a building project called Secret they only want to host their code on the local machines and share the code with restricted team members
Pull Request User Flow
Gitness is like Figma for engineers, offering collaboration with added rules and governance
A pull request is a method used in software development where a developer asks others to review and merge their code changes from a separate branch into the main codebase. It's a way to discuss and integrate new changes collaboratively.
Problem statements
Statement 1: The challenge of engineers working independently on their local machines while needing to contribute cohesively to a shared remote source base.
Statement 2: The issue of simultaneous code modifications by multiple engineers necessitates a reliable system to track and manage these changes effectively.
Statement 3: The necessity to uphold code quality, ensuring that inadvertent code conflicts or bugs are prevented and promptly addressed.
Goal-oriented Design
Business Goal
The business goal is to bridge the gap in the CODE phase of the CI/CD journey for developers and encourage customers to start their journey within the Harness ecosystem
Design Goal
Offer a streamlined and intuitive interface that delivers a familiar Git experience which also seamlessly integrated into Harness platform
Sep 2022
Oct 2022
Design roadmap within 1 year
Defined the product structure
Collaborated with VP of PM
Explored and finalized the navigation
Went through numerous reviews and interations
Jan 2023
Apirl 2023
Designed fundamental features (Files, Branches, Commits, etc.)
Settled down the flow and pattern to make consistency
Built up the pull request review system
Applied labels and filters on comments to enhance review experience
June 2023
Usability testing among core features
Interview 5 experts to validate success measurement metrics
Sep 2023
Launch Gitness and continuously follow up with user feedback...
Things still going on
Due to space constraints, for more fascinating stories about the design journey, feel free to Reach Out and I'll be happy to share additional insights from behind the scenes.
Final Reflections
Leading the design of Gitness from scratch to launch was my first experience of this kind and a significant learning process
1. Growth Mindset: Embracing a philosophy of incremental progress rather than expecting perfection in one step. Always open to iteration and continuous improvement.
2. Global to Detail Control: Demonstrating the ability to manage both the big picture and fine details. Ensuring consistency across similar features for a cohesive user experience.
3. Scalability: Designing with future expansion in mind, leaving room for the product's evolution and additional features.
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