Building a Scalable Resource Hub
Objective
The goal is to create a customer portal for the quantum ecosystem that addresses the current lack of transparency and guidance, making it easier for users—regardless of industry or expertise—to access valuable resources, navigate content, and get onboarded. The portal should streamline user access to educational content, technical documentation, and tools, driving conversion, activation, and brand presence.
Problem Statement
Lack of User Insight: There is insufficient knowledge about the users, including who is viewing the documentation and using the services.
Content Visibility: Valuable content is not currently showcased on the homepage, limiting user access to key resources.
No Centralized Resource Hub: Users don’t have a single place to access comprehensive information to get easily onboarded, irrespective of their industry or role.
Inadequate Onboarding Experience: Users struggle to find the right resources to guide them through their journey in the quantum ecosystem.
Key Goals
Conversion:
Guide users towards valuable content tailored to their needs, using easy navigation and curated content.
Highlight key resources to encourage sign-up and reduce drop-offs.
Improve discoverability through search and filtering.
Activation:
Help users progress based on their expertise, continually updating content that’s of value.
Strengthening Brand Presence:
Showcase the company’s expertise in quantum computing.
Provide transparency, alignment, and resources for users in the ecosystem.
Deliver a guided and high-value content experience.
Business Opportunities
Market Positioning: Capitalize on the fast-growing quantum ecosystem by becoming a trusted, go-to resource for users.
Content Monetization: Provide valuable resources to users that ultimately drive sign-ups and increased engagement, improving the overall user experience.
Expansion of User Base: Attract users from various industries and expertise levels by offering a comprehensive, guided portal with resources tailored to their needs.
Impact
Content Strategy and Direction: The project provides clarity on how content will be published moving forward, with prioritization of which content should be shared.
Improved User Experience: The identification of filters and prioritization will enhance the accessibility of resources.
Optimized Resource Allocation: By focusing on high-value content and ensuring its visibility, the portal will create a clear and valuable experience for users.
Solution
The customer portal will feature:
Curated Content: Educational lectures, docs, start guides, system specifications, and a glossary, all housed within the portal.
Improved Navigation: Tags, categories, and filters will help users find relevant content easily, with a seamless integration of video, documents, and PDFs within the portal.
User Onboarding: A smooth sign-up process and easy navigation to help users find the content suited to their expertise level and needs.
Continuous Feedback Loop: Post-launch surveys and user behavior tracking will help refine the portal and improve the user experience based on engagement levels and feedback.
Resources Archive
We’ve built features centered around persona-driven content curation, with the ability to search for resources and filter content using tags. Each content type has a distinct visual identity, and we've included shortcuts to key developer resources and links.
Resource Details
We developed the concept of an anthology, grouping related resources together while also allowing standalone resources outside any group. Within an anthology, users can follow a guided experience, seamlessly navigating from one resource to another, ideal for following courses. We also planned to gate certain resources for more controlled access.
Personas Prioritization
High & Medium Priority Personas:
Getting Started: How do I begin using lonQ? Quickstarts and SDK guides.
SDK & Libraries Compatibility: What SDKs and libraries work with lonQ? Quickstart documentation.
System Comparison: How can I compare different lonQ systems? Spec sheets.
Cost Tracking and Optimization: How do I track my costs/credits and optimize results? API docs, best practices.
Job Pricing: What is the pricing for running jobs on lonQ? Pricing estimator and sheets.
System Specs: What are the main systems, simulators, and their specifications? System overview with specs.
Informed Gatekeepers (High Priority):
Organizational Support: How can lonQ support my organization’s needs?
Quantum Research Onboarding: How to get my organization up to speed with quantum research?
Value Creators (High Priority):
Use Cases and Applications: What are the use cases and applications of lonQ systems to gain a competitive edge?
Running Hybrid Jobs: How can I run hybrid jobs on lonQ systems?
Available Research: What research is available on the latest lonQ systems?
Advanced Field Users (Medium Priority):
lonQ Ion-Trapped Architecture: What are the main advantages of lonQ's ion-trapped architecture with all-to-all connectivity?
Calibration Data: What is the calibration data for each lonQ system?
Native Gates: Can I get information about lonQ's native gates?
Research Availability: What research exists related to lonQ’s systems?
Information Needs Mapping
One of our biggest tasks was understanding how personas naturally seek information. We mapped the key questions driving their daily decisions and aligned them with our resources to provide clear, actionable answers.
User Flows Based on the Content Needs
Next, I mapped how a persona navigates the resource portal and what happens after they find the information they need. It was done based on the high and medium priority personas. This focused on product functionality while still being driven by content needs.
Competitive Research
I looked at other major players and analyzed what content pillars they created for their users, what is unique about how they approach resources.
First Proposal of the Resources Center
After completing competitive research, I created a preliminary proposal outlining the resource center’s goals and key features. This provided the team with a clear vision, helping us refine our understanding of personas and their needs.
I also established content pillars based on the customer journey.
Low Fidelity Explorations
Before we started working with a vendor that was going to help us bring resource center to life I was working on creating product exploration helping to communicate to the stakeholder our vision and goals. These artifacts were also a reference material as we were onboarding a vendor to the project.
High Fidelity Explorations
High Fidelity exploration already happened with the vendor. They were meant to explore different functionalities and layouts till we arrive to the most favorite option. We went through different sprints therefore the next version was more complete than the previous one.
Access Flows with Sign Up
Lastly, we needed to map how user is going to sign in/ sign up on our home page and how this functionality will be connected to the resources. I was leading that effort together with the vendor. However vendor was only helping is for the home page portion and whatever falls under the platform was managed by me and engineers.
Content Curation
Objective
Define the types of content for the customer portal.
Provide context on subjects, navigation, and user experience.
Explore tagging but remain open to alternative solutions.
Content Curation & Structure
A significant part of this project involved curating existing content—gathering all resources, organizing them into a comprehensive list with titles and subtitles, and designing a system for users to explore content efficiently. I worked closely with our vendor to ensure proper tagging was implemented and was responsible for QA, verifying how content was structured in Contentful and ensuring the final experience met our expectations.
Content Types & Experience
Educational Lectures
Currently on YouTube and internal folders, ideally unified in English.
Hosted within the portal for a seamless experience.
Potential structured learning paths (textbook/workflow/course).
Topics include quantum algorithms, programming, circuits, integrations, and hardware.
Public Docs & Start Guides
Hosted in a web-friendly format with code snippets and visuals.
Likely tagged under "integrations."
System Specifications
Initially in PDF format, with a future web-based tabular version.
In-portal viewing to avoid external navigation.
Relevant to "benchmarking."
Quantum Glossary
Text-based content, potentially in slideshow or individual pages.
Designed for discoverability via search and filtering.
Covers basic to advanced quantum computing terminology.
Customer Behavior Analytics & Testing Plan
Basic customer behavior analytics will be tracked using Google Analytics (GA).
Testing Objectives
Content Preferences
Launch Scope: Gather insights during the registration flow (TBD).
Post-Launch Scope: Conduct surveys based on observed user behavior.
Engagement Insights
Low Engagement Users: Identify barriers to engagement and areas for improvement.
High Engagement Users: Understand what they find valuable and explore additional content needs.
User Experience Optimization
Continuously refine the portal based on user feedback and behavior analysis.
Resource Center Improvement Plan
Bucket 1: Enhancements to the Existing Version
Link cards directly to external resources.
Enable anthologies to be nested within other anthologies.
Fix top navigation shifting due to “Sign In” changing to “My Account.”
Optimize tag handling—consider making them the second tier of filters.
Bucket 2: Curated Content & Developer Experience
Improve structured content for a better developer experience.
Take inspiration from GitLab Docs and GitHub Docs.
Bucket 3: Search Optimization
Enhance search functionality for better discoverability.
Bucket 4: Research Papers & User Experience
Improve accessibility and organization of research papers.
Bucket 5: Members-Only Resources
Introduce gated content for exclusive members.
Bucket 6: Improved Visibility & Onboarding
Add Resource Center details to the homepage.
Streamline the sign-up process.
Update the "Get Started" page (likely under Quantum Cloud).
Bucket 7: Expanding Resources
Glossary: Covering Qubits & Quantum Logic, Hardware, Technologies, Metrics, Applications, and Algorithms.
Case Studies: Include sales decks and real-world use cases.
One-Pagers: Concise resource summaries.
Additional Content Ideas
Gather insights from internal conversations to shape future content strategy.