Overview

As the Product design lead, I defined and led the end-to-end product design strategy for webMethods API Gateway over seven years. I drove the design process from research to final visual execution, ensuring a seamless and scalable experience for enterprise users.

This was a high-impact project, with API Gateway becoming a key product in Software AG's portfolio. It launched its first version in 2016 and continued to evolve, eventually contributing to webMethods acquisition by IBM in 2023.

Impact

CONTEXT

Software AG already had a strong portfolio of products for web services and SOA (Service-Oriented Architecture), including webMethods CentraSite. However, as the industry shifted from SOA to APIs as the preferred method for integration, there was a growing need to address the rising demand for robust API management solutions. The introduction of the webMethods API Gateway was a strategic response to this shift, positioning APIs as a key driver of digital transformation. The API Gateway was designed to meet the needs of API-driven ecosystems by offering advanced runtime security, management, and monitoring capabilities, all tailored to support modern cloud-based applications and architectures.

Approach

I took a strategic and iterative approach, balancing design excellence with technical feasibility:

Workshop - cross functional collaboration

• Conducted design thinking workshops to align cross-functional stakeholders around a unified product vision and strategy.
• Facilitated collaborative brainstorming sessions with engineering teams to address complex feature requirements and technical challenges.
• Actively engaged in release planning alongside business and engineering leaders to prioritize and define key features for each release cycle.

Research - user research and insight

• Conducted competitor analysis to benchmark industry standards.
• Engaged in stakeholder interviews to align business and technical goals.
• Defined personas and user journeys based on qualitative insights.
• Established information architecture to optimize usability.

Design - end-to-end design ownership

• Created low-fidelity wireframes to validate workflows.
• Developed high-fidelity prototypes for stakeholder and usability testing.
• Delivered visual design aligned with enterprise design systems.
• Collaborated closely on developer handoff, ensuring seamless execution.

Evaluate - user research and insight

• Conducted user testing with internal API consumers and external developers.
• Facilitated think-aloud sessions for qualitative feedback.
• Led customer interviews and surveys to refine and validate usability.

Outcome

As the Lead Product Designer for webMethods API Gateway, I played a pivotal role in shaping one of the top five API management solutions in the market, competing with industry leaders like Google Apigee API management and IBM API Connect.

Enterprise scale impact

• Designed a highly complex enterprise solution, setting the UX benchmark for other Software AG products.
• Successfully launched multiple major product releases over seven years, continuously evolving the UX.
• Defined scalable design patterns that improved usability and efficiency for enterprise developers.

Business & market success

• webMethods API Gateway became a leading product in API security and management, helping drive Software AG's API business growth.
• In 2023, IBM acquired webMethods.io, reinforcing its market value and strategic importance.

UX & product leadership

• Transformed UX maturity within the organization—advocated for user-centered design in a highly technical environment.
• Strengthened collaboration between product, engineering, and business teams, ensuring design decisions aligned with both user needs and technical feasibility.
• Led usability research and iterative design cycles, resulting in an intuitive, self-service API experience.

This experience refined my ability to design enterprise-grade solutions, balance technical constraints with user needs, and drive measurable product impact in a highly competitive space.