Problem

AWS offers a comprehensive suite of data and analytics services, each designed to address specific needs in the data lifecycle. However, this abundance of specialized tools has led to a fragmented ecosystem that poses significant challenges for companies:

  1. Complexity: Organizations struggle to navigate the myriad of services, often requiring deep expertise in multiple tools to build end-to-end data solutions.

  2. Integration overhead: Considerable time and resources are spent on integrating various services, leading to increased development costs and longer time-to-value.

  3. Inconsistent UX: Each service has its own interface and workflow, resulting in a steep learning curve and reduced productivity for data teams.

  4. Governance challenges: Managing data access, security, and compliance across multiple services becomes increasingly complex and error-prone.

  5. Limited visibility: With data spread across various services, companies lack a holistic view of their data assets, hindering effective decision-making and data strategy implementation.

  6. Operational inefficiencies: Maintaining and monitoring a diverse set of tools increases operational overhead and can lead to suboptimal resource utilization.

 

What is Amazon SageMaker Unified Studio?

Amazon SageMaker Unified Studio is a data and AI platform that brings together comprehensive AI and analytics services together into an integrated experience, to enable data processing, SQL analytics, model development and training, and generative AI. With a unified studio, access and act on all your data using the best tool for the job, assisted by Amazon Q at every step. Get unified access to your data whether it's stored in data lake, data warehouse, or federated data sources, with governance built-in to meet your enterprise security needs.

Within 1 week of launch, 600 external paying accounts have tried SageMaker Unified Studio.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  1. Introducing the next generation of Amazon SageMaker: The center for all your data, analytics, and AI

  2. Amazon SageMaker Lakehouse integrated access controls now available in Amazon Athena federated queries

Amazon SageMaker Unified Studio featured in AWS Re:Invent (Company conference) CEO Keynote 2024 and many others

 

MY ROLE AND IMPACT

  • Led the designs from concepts to launch of project foundations within SageMaker Unified Studio, focusing on simplifying complex data and compute management workflows

  • Navigated through ambiguity while collaborating closely with cross-functional teams across multiple organizations to uncover and define requirements

  • Presented end-to-end user journeys across the product to senior leadership, effectively communicating design rationale and the value of user-centered design, resulting in increased executive trust and collaboration

  • Continuously contributed to the ongoing development of our design system by submitting bugs, improving UX on components, overall leading to high standards in maintaining consistency

  • This product launched as a preview in November 2024, and launched for GA on March, 14, 2025.

Due to my NDA, I am unable to share my design artifacts publicly. If interested, feel free to reach out as I’m happy to discuss my process at a general level.

 

SAMPLE SCREENS

 
 

CHALLENGES

  • Stakeholder management: Balancing the needs and expectations of multiple stakeholders from different organizations can be complex

  • Inconsistent design languages: Each organization might have its own established design system or visual language, requiring careful negotiation to create a cohesive look and feel

  • Inconsistent UX maturity: Organizations may have different levels of UX understanding and adoption, requiring education and advocacy efforts

  • Maintaining UX consistency long-term: Establishing governance to ensure the unified experience remains consistent

  • Design system in its early stages: Lacking established patterns and a comprehensive component library, I played a key role in defining and shaping the UI, directly impacting the design system's evolution.

 

IF I HAD MORE TIME

  • Build upon our MVP to develop a comprehensive solution

  • Refine design iterations further

 

WHAT I LEARNED

  • Navigating design disagreements with stakeholders

  • Found constructive ways to voice concerns while fully committing to the chosen direction

  • Developed stronger skills in influencing through data and clear communication rather than position or authority

  • Developed skills in knowing when to push back and when to align with broader team direction