From startup to scale-up: Redesigning our platform for the next era of product growth

The way we build and manage infrastructure is changing. Projects are bigger, teams are more complex, and collaboration has never been more important (or more challenging).

At Sensat, we’ve been listening. As more major infrastructure owners and project teams joined our platform, we saw the cracks forming in our user interface. The tools that worked for smaller teams weren’t scaling to meet the needs of large, multi-stakeholder projects. Things were getting cluttered. Workflows were slowing down. Users were struggling to find what they needed.

So, we took a step back, and we rebuilt the new Sensat (join our demo to see what’s new).

A simpler, more powerful way to manage infrastructure projects at scale. Here’s a look at what’s changed on our platform design and, more importantly, why.

Why we had to rethink the old Sensat platform

Looking back - a time of growth.

Over the last four years, we’ve rapidly expanded our platform, introducing features like comments, timeline, scheduling, and presentations. Each addition was designed to make infrastructure management more seamless—but over time, the interface became cluttered.

Sensat started as a single-page platform with toolbars on both sides, a timeline running along the top, and additional tools anchored in every corner. What was once intuitive had become overcrowded, and research showed that users were struggling to find what they needed.

Our start-up mentality of “just keep building” had served us well—but we’d outgrown it.

More users, more problems.

2023 was a huge year for us. We expanded into new sectors, onboarded some of the biggest names in infrastructure, and saw projects grow in scale—some with 200+ users collaborating in the same space.

Suddenly, the way teams interacted with Sensat had to change:

• Managing data was getting harder. The layers panel, once manageable, was now overloaded with hundreds of files, making it difficult to stay organised.
• Security and access control became essential. Teams needed the ability to manage permissions, keeping sensitive information private while still enabling collaboration.

This dramatic shift highlighted a critical need: dedicated Workspaces. Our users needed a way to organise projects, manage data access, and streamline collaboration for different teams and stakeholders.

However, the limitations of the old platform prevented us from delivering this functionality effectively. It was apparent that Sensat had outgrown itself and was ready for a rewrite.

How we redesigned the new Sensat platform for scale

Over the next few months, we took a step back and reimagined how Sensat should work for today’s infrastructure teams.

The product team followed a structured process to rethink information architecture, which allowed us to untangle user needs from Sensat features. Employing methods such as:

• Site mapping – to visualise structure and hierarchy.
• Scenario mapping – to understand user behaviour in real-world contexts.
• Navigation and user flow design – to make finding and using features more intuitive.

This approach enabled us to reorganise the platform logically, making it easier for users to find what they need, when they need it.

We achieved this by:

• Elevating key features: Decoupling features like the content manager and team manager from the main 3D scene, so that they live within the homepage, leaving only what is needed within the scene.
• Refining core functionality: Evaluating and streamlining features across the platform to focus on their essential purpose.

This resulted in a more intuitive and efficient user experience.

The challenges we faced (and how we solved them)

One of the biggest challenges? Designing for an incredibly diverse user base.

Over time, we’d accumulated users across 14 different industries, 100’s of different job titles, working across all stages of development. Each of these factors influenced how users interacted with the platform and what value they derived from it.

For example, some of our users are seasoned CAD technicians, while others may have limited computer experience. This diversity presented a unique challenge in designing a platform that is both powerful and accessible to all.

Realising the true power in personas

By distilling our customers into 4 key personas, we were able to simplify a huge range of complex needs to the goals that were at their core.

Mapping these persona needs against Sensat's features provided breathing space between the two. It highlighted redundant features, areas where features were overextended, and opportunities to streamline functionality.

This process was vital for condensing such a vast amount of information, understanding key use cases, and ensuring our new designs were truly user-centered.

Our key considerations when updating the styling

To develop a design language that truly reflected Sensat's values, I collaborated closely with the product team. We engaged in in-depth discussions, exploring the core principles we wanted to express through the visual design. While the previous UI had a clean and modern aesthetic, certain elements no longer aligned with our evolved brand identity and values.

One challenge was balancing our product's technical nature with our users' diverse technical abilities. We wanted a clear and inviting style without being overly simple or patronising. This can be seen in the design's spacing of components (more dense than before but still respecting space and balance) and the colours used (moving away from the bright, bold blue we use for our CTAs and towards a more muted lapis colour).

Key changes users will notice in the redesign

The most exciting change would be the introduction of Workspaces. Instead of sharing one space, users can set up spaces for teams, project phases, or even a private focus area.

As projects grow in complexity, so does the volume of data.  Teams were struggling to keep hundreds of files organised and accessible within the old layer manager. To address this, we created the Content Manager. Instead of uploading files directly into the layer manager, users can now sync all their files straight into this dedicated space designed specifically for managing and organising large amounts of data. From here, users can also manage access controls, allowing you to decide who can see and edit information.

What are your plans for Sensat’s future from here?

This redesign has finally aligned the product with our users' demands and the evolving complexities of their projects. By building a strong foundation capable of handling significantly larger datasets and more intricate workflows, we've set the stage for future growth and innovation. This is just the beginning. With a stronger foundation, we’re excited to keep evolving and supporting the industry’s biggest challenges. Watch this space.