Business Context
The VPS (Virtual Private Server) market demands performance, reliability, and user autonomy. Within the LWSA ecosystem, both KingHost and Locaweb offered VPS products with similar capabilities, but each platform had evolved independently over tim
My role
As the Product Designer, I was responsible for:
Driving end-to-end product discovery and experience design
Identifying user pain points and business opportunities
Defining hypotheses and experience strategy
Designing information architecture and navigation flows
Collaborating with Product, Engineering, and Business stakeholders
Supporting the creation of a scalable design foundation across both platforms
Context
Although feature-rich, both control panels suffered from outdated user experiences, duplicated maintenance efforts, and increasing operational complexity. Following the acquisition of KingHost, an opportunity emerged to create a more unified and scalable product experience across both brands.
Research phase
To understand user behavior and identify opportunities for consolidation, we combined quantitative and qualitative research methods.
Data
We analyzed feature adoption, navigation patterns, and behavioral data through Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity, correlating usage metrics with revenue and server ownership data.
Survey
We conducted a mixed-method research study with 340 customers across both brands, providing insights into user expectations, operational challenges, and opportunities for improving the VPS management experience.
Key Insights
Nearly identical user profiles
Research revealed that both brands served highly similar customer segments. Differences were primarily driven by brand positioning rather than user behavior or operational needs.
Operational redundancy
Maintaining two separate experiences for comparable audiences created duplicated effort across Product, Design, and Engineering teams, slowing down product evolution.
Poor usability for technical workflows
Approximately 40% of users reported difficulties performing routine management tasks, indicating that the interface had become a source of friction rather than an efficiency tool.
Inefficient journey for single-server customers
Customers with only one server represented 90% of the user base and generated 50% of total revenue, yet they were forced through an unnecessary server selection step before reaching the management experience.
Hypotheses
Hypothesis 1
If we align the end-to-end experience across both platforms, we can reduce user frustration, accelerate product evolution, and improve customer satisfaction and retention.
Hypothesis 2
If we modernize the control panel and prioritize quick access to essential actions, we can reduce navigation friction and improve efficiency for routine management tasks.
Solution
Shared Design Foundation
To reduce maintenance overhead and enable faster delivery of future features, we introduced a shared pattern library and component system used across both brands.
This established consistency while creating a scalable foundation for future product development.
Locaweb antes
Locaweb antes
KingHost antes
KingHost depois
Context-Aware Navigation
The experience was redesigned based on customer profiles and usage patterns.
Single-server customers were taken directly to the server management interface.
Multi-server customers accessed a contract overview experience with streamlined server-switching capabilities.
This removed unnecessary steps for the majority of users while preserving flexibility for advanced use cases.
Personalized Quick Actions
We introduced customizable shortcuts, allowing users to organize and prioritize the actions most relevant to their workflows.
This increased efficiency and reduced the time required to perform repetitive administrative tasks.
Value-Oriented Onboarding
The onboarding experience was redesigned to achieve two goals:
Gather structured insights about user goals and pain points
Accelerate Time-to-Value by introducing key platform capabilities early in the journey
This helped users understand the platform more quickly while generating valuable product insights.
