Azure Quickstart Center
A redesigned onboarding hub to help new Azure users learn and get started with cloud services.
Stage 1Problems & Opportunities
New Azure users often felt overwhelmed by the platform's complexity. Research revealed that users struggled to find learning resources, frequently abandoned the portal before completing their first deployment, and had low awareness of Azure Quickstart Center as a resource. These gaps presented a clear opportunity to reimagine the onboarding experience.
Lack of Guidance
The current AQC lacks step-by-step learning material for new users.
Need Visual Content
Content needs more visual elements like videos and graphs.
Limited Awareness
New users have limited awareness of available resources.
The Previous Design
Design Highlights
Increased AQC Visibility
A key insight from user research was that most new users never discovered Azure Quickstart Center existed. We strategically placed entry points on trial landing pages and the Azure home page, meeting users at the moments when they're most likely to need guidance. This approach increased discovery rates by targeting users during their initial exploration phase.
Guided Learning Path
Rather than presenting an overwhelming list of resources, we designed a structured checklist that breaks down the onboarding journey into manageable steps. Each item builds upon the previous one, creating a clear learning path from understanding Azure basics to deploying your first resource. Progress tracking helps users maintain momentum and see how far they've come.
Visual Learning Materials
User feedback consistently pointed to a preference for visual content over text-heavy documentation. We partnered with Azure product teams to create short, focused video tutorials featuring product leaders explaining core concepts. These videos reduce cognitive load and help users understand abstract cloud concepts through visual demonstrations rather than lengthy technical documentation.
Impact
New Challenges & Solutions
As Azure Quickstart Center gained traction, new challenges emerged. The growing library of services and "templatized solutions" for multi-service integration made the original structure difficult to navigate. Users struggled to find relevant content as the platform scaled, requiring a fundamental restructuring of the information architecture.
Journey-Based Navigation
Reorganized the landing page into three distinct sections that map to the user journey: Get Started for first-time setup, Create for deploying new resources, and Learn & Optimize for tutorials, documentation, and best practices. This structure helps users quickly find content relevant to their current stage.
Table of Contents Menu
As content grew, navigation became critical. We implemented a persistent left sidebar with a table of contents that organizes content by Azure service categories. This allows users to quickly scan available topics and jump directly to relevant sections without scrolling through unrelated content.
Takeaways
Growth Through Education
Help users learn and succeed, not just complete tasks—education drives long-term engagement.
Iterative Prioritization
Great products evolve in stages. Focus on what matters most now while building toward long-term vision.
Scalable Structure
Design information architecture for growth—what works for 10 items should work for 100.
