Enterprise Software Infrastructure Industrial Design 2009 – 2012

F5 NETWORKS

User Experience Manager

Led the UX discipline at F5 Networks including UX Design, UX Research, and Industrial Design. Created an innovative UI paradigm called BIG-IQ that transformed how network administrators configure, monitor and troubleshoot their network infrastructure. Won the Five Star Award for significant contributions to the company.

F5 Networks
🏆
Five Star Award
BIG-IQ
UI Paradigm
UX + ID
Full Discipline

NETWORK COMPLEXITY

F5 Networks builds application delivery controllers and network infrastructure that powers the world's largest enterprises. Network administrators faced overwhelming complexity when configuring, monitoring, and troubleshooting their infrastructure across multiple datacenters.

The challenge was creating a delightful user experience for highly technical users managing mission-critical infrastructure—making the complex simple without dumbing it down.

FIVE STAR AWARD

FIVE STAR EMPLOYEE AWARD

F5 Networks' most prestigious employee award for significant contributions to the company

GLOBAL VISIBILITY

Designed dashboard interfaces that give network administrators instant visibility into their global infrastructure—datacenters, applications, devices, and health status at a glance.

BIG-IP Overview Dashboard
Global datacenter overview with map visualization, health status, and action items
Dashboard Variant
Application-centric dashboard view
Dashboard Details
Detailed metrics and monitoring

NETWORK VISUALIZATION

Created innovative visualization concepts for understanding complex network topologies and server pools—turning abstract infrastructure into tangible, interactive experiences.

Network Visualization on Tablet
F5 ENVI — experimental network visualization interface showing server pools and connections

POLICY & APPLICATION BUILDERS

Designed visual builders that allow administrators to configure complex network policies and applications through intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces.

Policy Builder
Visual policy builder interface
Application Builder
Application configuration builder

HARDWARE DESIGN

Led industrial design for F5's network appliance hardware—rack-mounted servers and blade systems that house the network infrastructure.

F5 Hardware Industrial Design
Industrial design concepts for F5 network appliances and blade systems
Blade System Design
Blade chassis and module design

MOBILE CLIENTS

Extended the network management experience to mobile devices, allowing administrators to monitor and respond to issues on the go.

Mobile Client
Mobile monitoring interface

IMPACT

Related Patents

Five Star Award 2012

What Colleagues Say

"Daan is easily the best UX leader I have worked with. He brings instant credibility with his structured thought process and his ability to communicate to engineers in a manner that they can relate to. I have become a better UI engineer as a result of his tutelage."

Raghavan Kollivakkam Cofounder & Head of Engineering, RIGOR AI

"Daan is a stellar design leader, with the ability to quickly filter the noise and find the signal, even in the most large-scale products and complex user scenarios. He has a solid track record of building UX teams within organizations that really do need them."

Bob Lynch Principal Designer & Co-founder, LDG

"Daan was a true partner and leader, not backing down in face of resisting parties, keeping steady and methodological track, setting correct priorities. He is a genuine and precious asset to any company wishing to translate its raw code into a user friendly product."

Eitan Caspi Founder, Vigorous Security

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