SENIOR UX DESIGNER
Revolutionizing Cloud Printing: Designing a Seamless and Secure HP Roam Experience
As a Senior UX Designer at projekt202, I led user research and UX strategy for HP Roam, a mobile cloud-printing solution. Our team redefined the target audience, solved complex Bluetooth and security challenges, and established foundational UX workflows that influenced the final market release.
The Business Challenge: Enabling Frictionless Cloud Printing for Mobile Users
HP set out to modernize cloud printing with HP Roam, enabling users to print from anywhere without relying on traditional drivers or complex network setups. To tackle this challenge, HP brought in projekt202 and Aniden as design partners, creating a collaborative effort between multiple teams. However, ensuring a frictionless, secure, and scalable cloud printing experience introduced significant challenges, including Bluetooth connectivity issues, security compliance, and seamless printer discovery across devices. Successfully aligning design, engineering, and business goals required close coordination between HP, projekt202, and Aniden to overcome these hurdles.
GOALS
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Enable professionals and consumers to print securely from anywhere without the hassle of printer-specific drivers.
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Design an intuitive mobile-to-cloud print workflow optimized for remote, Bluetooth, and location-basedprinting across multiple devices.
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Expand HP Roam’s accessibility beyond enterprise users, increasing adoption among general consumers while maintaining security for business printing.
My Leadership Strategy
Aligning Cross-Functional Teams & Product Vision
Aligning HP, projekt202, & Aniden
To ensure a unified product vision, seamless execution, and brand consistency.
Bridging design and engineering
To align the product roadmap with technical constraints and user needs.
Translating technical challenges
Into intuitive UX solutions for Bluetooth, security, and cross-platform printing.
Delivering a Secure & Scalable Experience
Simplifying cloud printing
To streamlinine printer discovery, authentication, and document release.
Balancing security and usability
With unique authentication codes and compliance-driven design.
Enhancing accessibility across devices
Through intuitive UI patterns and a seamless mobile-to-desktop experience.
Execution: Overcoming Unique UX & Technical Challenges
Unlike traditional mobile printing solutions, designing HP Roam required rethinking how users interact with cloud-based printing, Bluetooth connectivity, and enterprise security while ensuring a seamless, frustration-free experience.
Complex User Journeys
Initial assumptions focused on business users, overlooking broader consumer needs.
Shifted from persona-based design to day-in-the-life super scenarios, ensuring the app served both enterprise and general users.
solution
The initial framing of the problem was too narrow—focusing only on business professionals who needed secure printing. Through deeper research, we discovered that 80% of users were casual, convenience-driven printers rather than enterprise customers. This insight shifted our UX strategy:
Original Scope: Design a mobile print solution for business professionals.
Refined Strategy: Expand usability to accommodate everyday consumers while maintaining security for enterprise users.
Day-in-the-life super scenarios for HP Roam users.
Click image to expand.
The super scenarios were crafted to cover all key aspects of HP Roam’s printing experience, including business and convenience printing, desktop print dialogs, mobile app interactions, GPS-based printer discovery, HP Roam’s web app, guest account access, and secure printing for sensitive data.
Super Scenarios
first time experience
Monica
Technical Sales Representative
XYZ Tech
Monica receives an email from IT and installs HP Roam print driver on her laptop & downloads mobile app to her device.
She prints a sales proposal for a business trip, and later notices an error in her printed document mid-flight.
She connects to the airplane wi-fi on her laptop, corrects the file, and is given the option to “Send to Cloud” using HP Roam. She receives a confirmation & release code.
After she lands and disables Airplane Mode on her mobile phone, she receives a confirmation text with a 6-digit release code from HP Roam. There is also a link to a map to find the nearest HP Roam enabled printers.
She locates an HP Roam printer in the airport business center, she keys her release code into the digital keypad, and her document prints.
guest printing experience
Michael
Business Owner
New account prospect for XYZ Tech
He is visiting XYZ Tech headquarters to meet with Monica & Ian about the sale, and he needs to print an amended contract.
Monica sets him up with guest printing privileges; all they need is his is email to send him a link.
Michael connects to the office wi-fi and opens the email where he is given a link to guest printing access and a temporary password.
He clicks the link and is taken to a web app for HP Roam with a sign in screen where he enters his email and the temporary password. He signs in successfully.
After signing in, he is welcomed to HP Roam and asked to select the document he’d like to print. He select the printer down the hall from the list, adjusts his print options to duplex, prints, 3 copies, and then walks to the printer to gather his documents.
daily printing experience
Ian
Regional Sales Manager
XYZ Tech
Ian is sitting at his desk in the XYZ Tech office creating a quarterly sales data report for the CFO.
When he’s done editing, he selects “Print” from the toolbar in his document application.
A preview of the sales report appears in the print dialog window, along with printer selection options. Ian sees options to print to his local printer in his office—which he knows is low on ink, to the large public printer down the hall, or to send to the HP Roam cloud.
He selects to print to the larger public printer down the hall, and decides that since the sales report contains confidential financial data that he needs to securely print the report. He chooses to “Pull Print” so his badge must be used to print the document. He clicks “Print” and sends the sales report to the printer queue.
Ian then walks down the hall to the large printer and uses his security badge to swipe the panel on the printer. The print job releases from the queue and prints into the tray, where Ian collects it and takes it back to his office.
Bluetooth & Location Services Limitations
Mobile devices disable Bluetooth in energy-saving mode, disrupting printer detection.
Designed proximity-based triggers that prompted users to re-enable Bluetooth when necessary, reducing connection failures.
solution
The HP Roam lifecycle. Click image to expand.
HP Roam uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beaconing technology to send notifications when the device is near a Bluetooth-enabled Roam printer.
To utilize this, users must:
1
Install the HP Roam mobile app
2
Set up a user profile
3
Enable location access
4
Enable notifications
mobile app Security Constraints
iOS 11 and above restricts background printer searches, causing frequent disconnects.
Implemented a user authorization flow that allowed persistent printer access while adhering to Apple’s security policies.
solution
iOS app setup authorization flow. Click image to expand.
Mobile app print flows
Document printing flow for Android.
Document printing flow for iOS.
Unexpected Desktop Requirement
HP initially framed the project as a mobile print solution for business users, but deep into development, the need for custom desktop print drivers emerged.
solution
Expanded the scope to accommodate desktop printing while ensuring the mobile-first UX remained intact, integrating desktop drivers without disrupting overall workflow consistency.
Confidential documents could be intercepted before users retrieved them.
Print Job Security Risks
solution
Introduced unique authentication codes and badge swiping for secure print release, ensuring documents were only printed when the user was physically present.
Business & Team Impact: Laying the UX Foundation for HP Roam’s Market Success
By addressing usability, security, and cross-platform consistency, the HP Roam project delivered a seamless cloud printing experience for both enterprise clients and individual consumers. The collaboration between HP, projekt202, and Aniden ensured a holistic design approach, balancing technical constraints with user needs. The redesigned system streamlined mobile and desktop printing workflows, improved accessibility, and strengthened HP’s position in the enterprise printing market.
key outcomes
Expanded the target audience from business users to include general consumers, broadening product adoption.
Designed a more intuitive mobile-to-cloud print workflow, balancing ease of use with security.
Streamlined cross-team collaboration, ensuring a cohesive UX strategy despite a complex, multi-team environment.
Advocated for efficient stakeholder engagement, reducing unnecessary design churn and redundant critiques.
Modernized the mobile
printing experience,
enabling users to
print from anywhere
Improved accessibility
and ease of use
across mobile and
desktop platforms
Although projekt202’s involvement ended before final implementation, much of our UX/UI design work made it into the released HP Roam app.
my leadership Impact
Led collaboration
between HP executives,
Product, Engineering,
and agency partners
to align UX with
business, security,
and technical
constraints.
Designed and delivered
the HP Roam
mobile experience
in a fast-moving
multi-team collaboration,
overcoming Bluetooth,
location services,
and security challenges.
Established
mobile-to-desktop
integration standards,
ensuring a consistent
and intuitive
print experience
across devices.
Strengthened
HP Roam’s market
positioning by
creating a
streamlined, modern UI
that reinforced
HP’s leadership
in enterprise and
consumer printing.
Leadership Reflections
HP Roam was a complex, multi-team collaboration requiring deep alignment between HP executives, projekt202, Aniden, engineering, and security teams. With two design teams working in parallel, this project reinforced the importance of strategic coordination, clear ownership, and adaptability.
key leadership takeaways
Multi-team collaboration requires structure. With both projekt202 and Aniden contributing to design efforts, ensuring alignment, reducing redundancies, and maintaining a cohesive vision was critical to success.
Enterprise and consumer needs can diverge. Business users prioritized security and compliance, while consumers needed simplicity and ease of use. Balancing both within a single UX framework required scenario mapping and iterative testing.
Technical constraints shape UX decisions. Bluetooth connectivity, location services, and Apple’s security restrictions demanded close collaboration with engineering to create a seamless print experience without disrupting functionality.
This project reinforced my ability to orchestrate a dual-design effort while ensuring strategic alignment across teams, technology, and business needs.