July 21, 2025

Implementing Oracle Redwood with Visual Builder Studio: A Modern User Experience Transformation

Authors: Pete Gutteridge-Paye – Centre of Excellence Director. Katy Baker – Core HCM Practice Lead. Danielle Evans – Senior HCM Consultant.

In the evolving landscape of enterprise applications, user experience (UX) is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity. Oracle has responded to this demand with Redwood, its next-generation design system, and Visual Builder Studio (VB Studio), a powerful low-code development platform. Together, they provide a comprehensive solution to build, extend, and customise applications with a modern, intelligent, and consistent UX.

This blog covers crucial information about Redwood, Visual Builder Studio and aims to help you navigate the change journey that you and your users will be on in adopting this future-ready user experience. Launching a new UX is not an easy task, as every screen in HCM and Self-Service Procurement in ERP have been overhauled to show the fresh look and feel, new functionality and be the host for Generative AI and AI Agents.

Oracle have done an excellent job at preparing the Oracle community for what was required to adopt Redwood on a tight timeline, and in this blog, we will share hints, tips and advice that we have noticed through our own Namos journey in implementing Redwood internally and for customers.

What is Oracle Redwood?

Oracle Redwood is more than a visual refresh—it is a comprehensive UX strategy that redefines how users interact with Oracle Cloud Applications. Screens have been merged for a better experience and workflows have been redesigned to bring connectivity and ease of navigation. It introduces:

Modern, intuitive interfaces with consistent design patterns
AI-driven insights and contextual nudges
Responsive design for mobile, tablet, and desktop
Activity centres and role-aware content
Unified search and accessibility enhancements

Redwood is being rolled out across Oracle Fusion Applications, including HCM, ERP, and SCM where all modules and screens will be able to unlock the power of Redwood.

What is Oracle Visual Builder Studio?

Visual Builder Studio (VBS) is Oracle’s low-code development platform designed to build and extend Redwood applications. VBS is the new platform that enables system administrators to write rules that dictate what fields are visible and to who, which was previously controlled by the Transactional Design Studio. It enables:

Rapid application development using drag-and-drop components.
Integration with Oracle Cloud Applications
Support for Redwood Design System
Customisation through Express Mode and Business Rules
DevOps capabilities like version control, CI/CD, and issue tracking

Visual Builder Studio knowledge is a must have skill for anyone who is responsible for managing the journey to Redwood and beyond. Understanding the way in which the platform provides git repositories, branches, business rules and much more will assist the ways in which Redwood can meet your needs and requirements.

What has been clear in the journeys that Namos have been involved in (including our own) is that those customers who embraced the ‘Adopt not Adapt’ ethos in their implementation have a clearer path to Redwood. Where challenges were identified, it was due to having to accommodate customisations into the Redwood UX, where functionality has been made available in waterfall approach and not everything being available from launch of the functionality.

How Redwood and VB Studio Work Together

VB Studio is the tool of choice for implementing Redwood UX. It allows developers and functional admins to:

Design applications using Redwood’s Figma-based design toolkit.
Develop using prebuilt Redwood components and templates.
Extend Oracle Cloud Applications with custom pages, fields, and logic.
Deploy seamlessly within the Oracle Cloud ecosystem.

Best Practices for a Successful Redwood + VB Studio Implementation

Oracle are listening and catching up with customer requirements, but we are still seeing occasions where there are areas that are not meeting client requirements due to the complexity or customisation in their current configuration. With the launch of Oracle Cloud Success Navigator and a refreshed view of Oracle Modern Best Practice we are seeing many customers making the decision to revisit their design and realign with best practice and Out of the Box functionality.

To help customers plan their Redwood deployment, including the resources and time that will be needed, Oracle developed the Redwood Personalisation Helper Tool.

To ensure a smooth and scalable implementation of Oracle Redwood using Visual Builder Studio, consider the following best practices:

1) Run the Personalisation Helper Tool from Oracle

One challenge organisations encounter transitioning from Responsive UI (ADF) to the Redwood UI, is migration of existing personalisations. That is where the Oracle Redwood Personalisation Helper Tool comes in. The tool will help you:

Analyse existing personalisations created using Page Composer or HCM Experience Design Studio.
Generate migration reports to identify which personalisations are compatible with Redwood.
Automatically convert and package supported personalisations into a suite of ZIP files, which can then be imported into VB Studio.

Modes of Operation

Report Only Mode: Lists all personalisations and their migration eligibility.
Migrate and Report Mode: Generates a suite of VB Studio-compatible ZIP files for supported personalisations.

Be sure to use this tool as your first step to understanding the Redwood journey that lies ahead, especially with the amount of personalisations that are in the system. Many of the personalisations will be handled and migrated by the tool, but it is a clear advantage to be able to be directed to where the help and configuration effort will be needed, to help plan your UX strategy.

It will be important to verify and check all the VBS extensions that have been migrated via the Personalization Helper Tool. This needs to be done to the most granular level. Manually correct any omissions found and ensure the VBS Rules are as you require them – i.e., the user display and experience meets your organisational needs.

Also take the opportunity to embrace the new and consider whether every existing personalisation is still appropriate to move forward with in the context of the new Redwood page display and behaviour.

2) Start with a UX Strategy

To make the process for your configuration team and users as easy as possible, start your Redwood journey with a UX strategy. If you have already started to deploy Redwood and have not done this yet, it is not too late to revisit your strategy and plan to create a strategy that everyone can buy into. Think about:

Aligning your Redwood implementation with your organisation’s digital transformation goals.
Involve UX designers early to ensure consistency with Redwood design principles.
Use Oracle’s Redwood UX guidelines and Figma templates to maintain visual coherence.
Change Impact Assessments across each area to support each page and understand impacts to users, Oracle Guided Learning and Accessibility.

3) Module vs Process Approach

Namos have seen customers approaching their Redwood journey from both approaches and there is not a perfectly right way to deploy Redwood. The most obvious answer is to ensure that it aligns to your UX Strategy that should have the end user at the heart of the deployment. The module approach will ensure that the end user has a seamless journey with the entire process transitioned into Redwood, there could be delays to deploying this method whilst waiting for all areas of a module to be available on the Redwood timeline. On the other hand, while the process approach will give you a quicker deployment it can cause a fragmented user experience if the process jumps between the Redwood and Responsive UX due to the availability of all screens.

Whichever way you decide to approach your deployment remember to think about:

Break down large projects into smaller, manageable sprints that are aligned to your UX Strategy.
Use component-based development in VB Studio to promote reusability.
Leverage Oracle JET components and Redwood UI patterns to reduce custom code.

4) Use Express Mode Wisely

For business users and functional consultants, Express Mode offers a simplified way to build and extend apps.
Use it for lightweight customisations like exposing/displaying fields, ensuring fields are displayed as Required or Read Only, validations, or simple workflows.
For complex logic or integrations, Oracle Center of Excellence advise to raise an SR to discuss specific business cases for using Advanced Mode or involve technical developers. The only known generally approved use case is Dynamic Containers such as the Benefits View Employee Resources – Add Your Own Content in Review Employee Resources

5) Maintain Upgrade Compatibility

Namos advise all our customers and those that are deploying Redwood to:

Avoid direct modifications to base Oracle Cloud Applications.
Use VB Studio extensions and sandbox environments to isolate customisations.
Regularly test custom components against quarterly Oracle updates to make sure that your Redwood deployment is stable and avoids unintended downtime (where possible).

6) Structure the deployment strategy to create a solid framework.

Several key takeaways from our Namos consultants who have been deploying Redwood successfully include:

Use VB Studio’s built-in capabilities:
- Build/Job Pipelines
- Pipeline approval stages can help enforce your organisational governance.
- Feature and Release branches
- Branch and Environment protection
Automate testing and deployment to reduce errors and speed up delivery.
Maintain clear documentation and version control for all customisations.

7) Focus on Performance and Accessibility

Once you start to use the Redwood UX and get used to the new page layouts it will become clear very quickly that you cannot work without them. Every new part of a system takes time to adapt and change but hold on in there, it will be worth it. To ensure you get the best experience when using Redwood pages we suggest the following tips:

Optimise Redwood pages for fast load times and mobile responsiveness.
Follow accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1) to ensure inclusivity.
Use Oracle’s performance monitoring tools to identify and resolve bottlenecks.

Oracle have really given a plethora of information to help users and administrators have the best opportunity to adopt Redwood. Make sure to visit the adoption centres in Oracle Cloud Success Navigator for all the key information and tips to plan, execute, deploy and extend Redwood. This information is updated all the time. Most importantly ensure that you:

8) Engage End Users Early

Conduct user testing and feedback sessions during development.
Use Redwood’s personalisation features to tailor experiences by role or persona.
Provide training and documentation to ease adoption.

Key issues and challenges to be prepared for?

It is important to understand that while the Redwood UX change is a fundamental shift in the UX Strategy from Oracle it is underpinned by Oracle Modern Best Practice, leading sector customer requirements and advancements in workflows in modern organisations. If you find there is a design gap in what you had in responsive and what you are going to get in Redwood, do not be afraid to take a moment to ask yourself these questions:

Is it time to revisit or return to Oracle Modern Best Practice?
Are you challenging what is being transitioned to Redwood, are your personalisations still fit for purpose?
Post-implementation, is this the opportunity, to take control of processes and align them to a new way of working?

Final Thoughts

Embracing Oracle Redwood with Visual Builder Studio is more than a technical upgrade—it is a strategic investment in the future of your user experience. As organisations continue to evolve, the ability to deliver intuitive, accessible, and AI-enhanced applications will be a key differentiator. By aligning your implementation with a clear UX strategy, leveraging the tools Oracle provides, and engaging users early, you can ensure a smoother transition and long-term success.

Redwood is not just about modernising the interface—it is about reimagining how people interact with Oracle enterprise systems. The journey may be complex, but the rewards are transformative.

Namos are helping our customers on their journey to Redwood, we have developed the below packages to enable our customers to get to their Redwood destination easier and on time: