CASE STUDY:  Techsoup + Microsoft Cloud Experience

View as slides

Transforming Product Acquisition to Meet Market Shifts

Designing UX solutions to bridge systems, simplify complexity, and build trust

  • Role: Lead UX Strategist

  • Focus: Product UX, content strategy, and systems integration

  • Note: Supplementary visuals available on request due to NDA

About TechSoup

Overview:

  • About 700 employees with HQ in San Francisco and regional hubs in Corinth, London, Warsaw

  • Global network spanning 60+ countries

Key points:

  • TechSoup’s top earning service is nonprofit technology distribution.

  • Microsoft, TechSoup’s largest philanthropic partnership, drives the majority of revenue.  

Project Brief

Key points:

  1. Microsoft shifted offers from one-time software downloads to cloud subscriptions.

  2. TechSoup’s systems handled only one-time downloads and could not support subscriptions.

Initial obstacles:

  • Microsoft’s complex setup process made it difficult for TechSoup retaining users.

  • Confusing terminology and disjointed instructions plagued Microsoft’s customer journey.

  • Fragile, legacy TechSoup systems and developers were heavily overtaxed.

My Role

Lead UX Strategist, reporting to Senior VP

Key points:

  • Owned interactive product and feature UX design, research, and content strategy.

  • Served as the trusted source for creative problem solving and interactive solutions.

  • Collaborated with many product, business, and Microsoft teams.

  • Defined user flows, UIs, copy, and all related assets across multiple systems.

Immediate Need

Phase 0

Stabilizing a Broken Experience

Key points:

  • Strategic Focus: maintaining the TechSoup support relationship and clear self-service guidance.

  • Objective: configure Cloud Manager quickly to handle Microsoft cloud subscriptions.

  • Tasks: white-label customization, UX adjustments via HTML/CSS/JS within vendor limits, brand consistency.

  • Constraints: minimal CMS flexibility — UX limited to micro-iterations rather than structural redesign.

Cloud Manager Goes Live

Phase 1

Improving the Live Experience

Key points:

  • Redesigned confusing catalog browsing and problematic “Connect to Microsoft” checkout pages.

  • Rewrote UI copy to reduce frustration and clarify next steps.

  • Designed multi-org login patterns for consultants managing several nonprofits.

User-Testing: Beyond Interface Problems

Key points:

  • User testing revealed deeper pain: users lost trust when switching systems

  • Problematic vocabulary throughout customer experience: confusion around provisioning, onboarding, tenant, domain  

  • Friction wasn’t just UI — it was cross-platform identity confusion

  • This insight inspired the next phase: creating a single sign-on experience

SSO UX Integration

Phase 2

Designing a Pseudo-SSO Experience

Challenge: Unify login and account setup across systems without shared authentication.

Key points:

  • Created structured hand-offs with clear transition pages and consistent design.

  • Added non-invasive UX checkpoint to confirm TechSoup sessions and trigger Cloud Manager account creation.

  • Integrated Cloud Manager’s email-verification requirement into TechSoup’s flow.

Addressing User Confusion

Problems → Solutions

  • Separate systems, no shared login → Designed a bridge flow that felt continuous

  • Login couldn’t trigger Cloud Manager setup → Added “Thanks for logging in” checkpoint

  • Cloud Manager required email verification → Triggered verification email via TechSoup

  • No session until email verified → Redirected back to TechSoup for final activation

  • Multi-redirect confusion → Consistent visuals, tone, and guidance maintained trust

Outcome: users could complete onboarding without losing orientation.

API Integration

Phase 3

Iterating Real-Time Validation

Key points:

  • Designed flow for live domain validation and reseller authorization within the Add-to-Cart experience.

  • Collaborated with developers to overcome strict API limitations (single-call restrictions, domain-type validation).

Iterations:

  • V1: concept design, split API calls — business approved, dev blocked.

  • V2: unified API call — local storage negotiated with dev.

  • V3: improved domain-entry interaction design — validated through testing.

  • V4: streamlined account editing UX — removed unused features (create domain).

UX Content & Microcopy Improvements

Key points:

  • Introduced term “onmicrosoft.com domain” — successfully tested, adopted by Microsoft.

  • Re-labeled Microsoft term “custom domain” to reflect user needs  — successfully tested.

  • Successful iterations and testing call-to-action labels:
    • “Get Offer” → “Add to Cart.”
    • “Verify Domain and Authorization” → “Add Microsoft Offer to Cart.”

Outcomes & Reflections

Impact and Learning

Outcomes:

  • NGOs successful adoption of Microsoft’s new subscription model via TechSoup.

  • SSO and API integration dramatically reduced average setup time.

  • UX and copy updates increased task completion and comprehension.

  • Microsoft adopted terminology improvements, aligning cross-ecosystem messaging.

  • Dramatically reduced support requests.

Lessons learned:

  • Real-time flows demand thoughtful error design

  • Language is design — clarity can transform trust

  • UX detail work under technical constraint can drive large-scale change.

Appendix — Visual Assets

  • Pre-SSO user flow and early Cloud Manager UI (catalog, checkout, PNGO variant)

  • Full SSO flow diagram and annotated Lucidchart export

  • Clickable InVision prototype of SSO journey and regional login variations

  • API integration prototypes (V1–V4) showing iterative UX evolution

  • Microcopy and terminology documentation (“onmicrosoft.com domain,” CTA refinements)

  • User testing presentation and journey map showing redirect pain points

  • System ecosystem diagram mapping TechSoup ↔ Microsoft ↔ Cloud Manager