PROJECT OVERVIEW
Hourigan is a fully-integrated construction and development firm based in Richmond. Hourigan applies innovative approaches to the process and the project to execute work at the highest possible level while also building and maintaining a high-value, collaborative partnership.
ROLE:
UX Researcher
Wireframing
User Experience
DESIGN PROCESS
CDSCD
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Hourigan wants to create a self-service dashboard that can be accessed 24/7 by their clients, while moving away from their weekly pdf dashboard, to create a faster and more responsive avenue of communication. The team will determine the desired KPIs needed for this dashboard by interviewing Hourigan’s clients, researching dashboard best practices, and building personas around several market segments.
DASHBOARD RESEARCH
Best Practices:
- Present the Most Essential Information with Minimal Effort Required
on the Part of the User
- Customizable Export of Dashboard (PDF Version)/Data
- Allow for Chart Range to be Customizable
- Hoverable Definitions of Industry Terminology
- Cross-Device Accessibility
Common Pitfalls:
- Repetitive Reporting
- Multiple Data Systems
- Unprioritized and Unorganized Data
- Largely Paper-Based Reporting
- Lack of System Connectivity
FIELDS OF KPIS
During our dashboard research in the construction field and looking at the products that already exist we have found the 5 most important KPIs in the industry. We used these KPIs as assumptions that needed to be tested during our interview.
INTERVIEW OVERVIEW
The goal of this interview process is to gain empathy with our users, understand their challenges, and collect their desired KPIs. After talking to 12 potential users with different job responsibilities at Hourigan we sum up our findings in the table below.
USER PERSONAS
After our discovery process, we decided to create three user personas. Each of these personas is a customer segment that we will need to focus on when we are thinking about how to make the dashboard usable for different users.
EMPATHY MAP
Through the empathy map, we learned that the interviewees were satisfied with the current PDF, desired improved communication between teams, and expressed concerns about potential unrealistic expectations for the dashboard.
USER FLOW CHART
We built this chart to illustrate the main process with all the details and side tasks to log in and view the dashboard for needed information. This chart helped us plan out and organize the important KPIs for each user segment. We were initially overwhelmed by the information gathered from the interviews, but the flowchart has helped us to refocus and prioritize the most important elements of the dashboard.
PERSONA AND KPI/MODULES
Based on the results of our interviews, we identified three main segments and developed a set of KPIs and modules to address the various categories of KPIs for each segment. The following is an overview of how we addressed each category for each persona
WIREFRAMES
In accordance with our KPI recommendations, we have included low-fidelity wireframes for each category. These wireframes provide a visual representation of how selected KPIs and modules can be presented on a possible dashboard.
OUTCOME
This research has helped me grow so much as a UX designer. One of the many things I learned during this research is the ability to simplify a crowded dashboard that is always required to be packed with so much information, into groups of straightforward and digestible KPIs. I also found our interview findings fascinating, and they really show how important it is to test our client's assumptions with the potential users. Our users want something that aligns with their habits and they don't really care about safety as much as Hourigan, who thinks that safety is the most important KPI in a construction dashboard. Just a little detail like this really makes a difference. I learned that people most often don't want to deal with change, if something is usable and they are used to it they are most likely not to want to go through changes. That is why it is our job as UX designers to show them a platform that offers an even better solution to help them with their daily job and it is even easier to use.