The reporting application was difficult to use and cluttered, resulting in a poor experience. This led to a disengagement with the user community. Users struggled to find information as the application was difficult to navigate. There was a lot of frustration and wasted time with most users returning to Excel to manually get answers from the available data.
User Experience, User Interface
Under NDA, Car Manufacturor
The existing reporting application had been modified and extended over time when new requirements arose. This was done without a clear vision and with no consideration of how the dashboard was going to be used. After many versions, screens looked more like silos, as each corresponded to a change request, resulting in a clumsy and difficult to navigate dashboard.
(Old dashboard overview page)
Initially, I ran a usability evaluation to assess the current state of the application. Mapping out all the screens, their content and type of visualitions, helped me to identify redundancies and inconsistency, allowing me to see how confusing the screens were for users. After several interviews with key users, I summarised my findings and requirements for the business into different personas.
I also found that a lot of data visualisation choices were not aligned with their purpose and it was difficult to get insights from them. Secondly, some data was being represented without context which could be misleading, resulting in poor decision making. I researched which data visualisations would allow users to get quick insights for different types of data.
(Data visualisation research)
After having refined my wireframes with key stakeholders, I decided to build a high fidelity dynamic prototype that could be used to validate my design. I ran workshops over the country with different groups of users to present the new vision of the application which was focused on addressing users’ needs. I also did a few usability testing sessions to collect more feedback.
(New overview page)
My vision of the new dashboard landing page was very well received. It presented a clear view of the high-level overview of the business and provided quick access to further analysis. The new visualisations in the form of gauges, coloured indicators and bar charts were easy to consume and provided access to instant insights.
(New analysis page)
The same very positive feedback were received about the new screens that provide a better understanding of the business. Users can easily slice and dice their data with dropdown list or toggles to seamlessly analyse various scenarios. In addition, the chosen colour scheme was consistent throughout the entire application, giving to power users visual information without having to refer to the legend.
The new approach provided by my design fostered a new relationship between users and their data. Users found the new application intuitive and easy to use. They feel supported by the application and empowered with the right tool for each activity they have to accomplish. After 2 months, the adoption rate was over 90%.
"Our dashboard is now something that I can easily use and that really bring value. I quickly find all the answers I need. It’s really simple to get the full picture as well as digging down to the very details of my data."
Within few months after the launch, the user community trusted the application. Users asked to extend the scope and to bring more governed data into it, allowing them to rely on one efficient and easy-to-use dashboard for many different types of data across various departments.
I could reuse my knowledge of the business and apply my previous research with users to optimise the design process and accelerate the development phase. A new navigation with 2 sub levels was required as the application grew in scope, giving access to new departments of the business.
Over the past 2 years, I have communicated regularly with all of the stakeholders involved in this project, allowing me to create an efficient and open relationship. I am now working on a new web-based application that will provide the same seamless user experience on any device. This will manage the data input that feed the end analytics dashboard that I improved.
(Beta mobile version screenshots)
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Behance
