STEPHANIE SULLIVAN
MICROSOFT 365 ADMIN DESIGN SYSTEM // CASE STUDY
Filtering,
reconsidered.
Researching and designing an accessible filtering control for large enterprise lists—and aligning it across product ecosystems.
✦ RESEARCH ✦ INTERACTION DESIGN ✦ ACCESSIBILITY ✦ SYSTEMS THINKING ✦ CODE ✦ CROSS-ORG ALIGNMENT ✦
Today
the component lives on in Microsoft 365 Admin Center
90%
alignment achieved with Azure partners
6+
customer studies shaping the interaction model
1.5
years from identifying the problem to finishing the component
01 // THE OPPORTUNITY
The problem surfaced in partner conversations.
Teams needed a better way for customers to filter large enterprise lists—but the right interaction model wasn't yet clear.
I identified the opportunity through conversations with product partners, then worked with them to establish baseline requirements. What began as a component problem became a deeper investigation into customer expectations, accessibility, content, and consistency across product ecosystems.
THE QUESTION
How might filtering stay powerful without becoming another complicated system to learn?
02 // THE PROCESS
Research. Redesign. Repeat.
The control improved incrementally through evidence, not a single big reveal.
01
Discover
Recognize the unmet need through partner conversations.
03
Study
Partner with research to understand customer expectations.
05
Align + ship
Build guidance, work toward cross-org consistency, and contribute to code.
02
Frame
Build baseline requirements with the teams closest to the problem.
04
Iterate
Redesign the model across multiple research cycles.
"
...the roundup of previous and current filter designs was useful in seeing the big picture of how this new control fits and builds on existing work.
Steven Dale - Senior UX Engineer
"
03 // THE COMPONENT
One control. Many scenarios.
The final guidance accounted for removable filters, adding filters, simple and complex variants, light and dark modes, and the states each interaction needed along the way.
InPageFilter component
A page out of the UI kit that covers each individual piece, and how they're put together to make the full component.
04 // RESEARCH
The work was shaped with customers, not just validated by them.
A close 1:1 partnership with research made each round of learning part of the design process.
Across more than six studies, findings fed directly into each iteration of the filtering control. That sustained relationship helped the team move beyond assumptions and build a model around how customers expected filtering to work. It helped create data-backed answers to the consistent questions people had about why we chose one interaction over another.
6+ studies
Multiple rounds of research created space to learn, adjust, and test again
Incremental change
Each design cycle responded to evidence from the one before it.
05 // ACCESSIBILITY + GUIDANCE
Accessibility was designed into the system.
An accessibility expert helped map contrast, keyboard navigation, landmarks, headings, and tab order across the experience.
The work covered both light and dark modes and extended beyond the component itself into page-level guidance, helping teams implement filtering in a structure that remained understandable and navigable.
Guidance
Accessibility
06 // COLLABORATION
A component build across disciplines and organizations.
The outcome depended on different kinds of expertise converging on one coherent model.
Final thoughts
01
Research partnership
Working side by side with a dedicated researcher changed the quality of both the process and the final design. It also solidified my dependence on and love of talking with customers directly.
03
Code contribution
A UX engineering partner taught me how to update the code, create a pull request, respond to reviews, and merge the work into product.
02
Accessible systems
Light and dark contrast, keyboard navigation, and page structure because part of the core guidance, not just as a final review before shipping.
"
I love how much thought you put into the spec you provided us for the InPageFilter work. Not only did you do that as early as you could, but you also asked for constant feedback and made changes in response to that feedback.
Brandon Thomas - Principal UX Engineer
"
Still filtering today.
The component has evolved since release, but the work lives on in today's Microsoft 365 Admin Center. It's a durable result of sustained research, iteration, and partnership.