Helping Researchers Use syGlass in Labs Without Internet Access

Some researchers worked in secure labs where computers weren’t allowed online. They already had a syGlass license, but couldn’t activate it on the computer where they needed to work.

IstoVisio · Desktop · Science

syGlass desktop application showing the license checkout confirmation dialog

Overview

My contribution

Designed the offline licensing flow, confirmation, and transfer guidance in collaboration with the CTO and engineers.

Key constraints

• The destination computer had to stay offline.
• A license seat was reserved for a specific computer and period.
• Limited engineering capacity kept a visual redesign outside the scope.

Outcome

Shipped, giving researchers offline access to syGlass on their lab computers.

Internet access wasn’t something we could ask them to change

The need surfaced through support tickets and conversations with leadership and engineering. Staying offline was a requirement of these customers’ work.

The technical solution needed to reserve a license seat for a specific computer and period. My design work focused on helping researchers understand that commitment and complete a transfer that crossed two computers.

With limited engineering capacity, we kept the existing visual interface and focused the work on enabling offline access: making seat reservations understandable and helping researchers complete the transfer.

Diagram showing the connected computer preparing an offline license, and the offline lab computer, which stays disconnected from the internet, activating it. The connected computer sends the offline computer's identifier, then the offline license file is carried back on a thumb drive.

Making the consequences clear before commitment

Reserving a seat for offline use meant it would be unavailable to other computers during the selected period. That could affect colleagues who shared the same license, so the decision affected access beyond a single computer.

I brought the reservation period and remaining seats into the confirmation so researchers could understand the consequences before committing.

syGlass license confirmation with annotations highlighting the reservation period and remaining seats.

The handoff was part of the design

The connected computer could prepare the license, but a generated file was only an intermediate result. The researcher still needed working access on the offline machine, and closing the first dialog didn’t mean syGlass was ready to use.

I included the cross-computer handoff in the flow, with guidance that connected what the researcher had prepared on the first machine to what they still needed to do on the offline one.

syGlass transfer instructions with annotations highlighting the license file location and activation on the offline computer.

Researchers could use syGlass where their work required

Offline licensing shipped, giving researchers a way to activate syGlass on restricted lab computers. Customers could use a license they already owned without connecting those computers to the internet, while the existing seat limits remained in place.