Rachana Solanki
Problem Space:
Working for the client to redesign the existing Indiana Data hub website. The main goal was to redesign the data hub improving the discoverability and searchability of the data. The main features of the redesign include colour and template system, content discoverability with keeping in mind extensibility, customizability and content editing. You can find our design process here and a presentation here.
(August 2018 - April 2019)
My Role:
User Research, Usability Testing, Brainstorming & Ideation, Feature requirements, UI kit, UI design & Client communication
Features & Functionalities
1. Home Page
Home Page divided into three main sections - Search bar, Categories & Reports
2. Categories
Various design explorations were done to finally pin down to this. Flip action on hover to see the subcategories within a certain category.
3. Results Page
Top navigation, Filter design and data cards template design were the main challenges on this page.
4. Advance Search
Advance search to recommend suggestions based on synonyms keyword used by the user. If still not successful can use the "Request Data" service.
5. Details Page
Displays Metadata, data dictionary and dataset preview and download options all on the one page. To assist the user to make a quick decision whether is this the dataset they are looking for.
6. Help Page
All the relevant services provided by the Indiana government are kept on the help page. This page does not exist in the current version. Along with all the services it also guides based on user job/requirement.
Indiana Data Hub Redesign
Client:
Team Members:
Neha Khatri and Rachana Solanki (me)
Management Performance Hub, Indiana State government
We began with understanding our client and their requirements, understanding the market/similar websites. Secondary and Comparative research to identify the key users, initially defined the Persona based on the job roles to further use in our design process. And later conducted User Interviews to understand our users better.
Research Phase
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
Compare the existing government data hub platforms
Indiana Data Hub
Boston Data Hub
UK Data Hub
Home Page
Search bar,
Organizations
Search bar,
Data examples,
Popular datasets
Search bar,
Categories
Categories
Groups,
Organizations
8 Areas of Dataset
Areas of Dataset
Search Filter
Groups,
Organizations,
Document type,
License
Publisher,
Topic,
Document Type
Groups,
Organizations,
Document type,
License
Acessibility
WAVE Accessibility Tool - 7 errors
WAVE Accessibility Tool - 24 errors
WAVE Accessibility Tool - Pass
Strengths
Download the dataset,
Origin of the data
Visual Design,
Data examples,
Popular datasets
Simple,
Accessibility standards,
large database 22500
Weaknesses
Categories not well defined
Small database
After getting client requirements, doing literature review and comparative analysis, we started thinking about the target audience. Initially, we divided based on job role. Having realized there are plenty of job roles, we switched to categorizing users based on experience with data.
Persona 1 - Novice User
Background
Penny is a high school teacher for the past 5 years. After she graduated from Ball State University with a bachelors degree in Mathematics, she teaches Maths to high school students at Indiana School. Top navigation, Filter and data cards based on search results.
Needs
Find out valuable datasets for Student's assignment every semester.
Experience with Open Data
Familiar with searching open datasets. Her criteria for the suitable dataset is an average number of rows and columns and the title should be similar to the subject in the school.
Persona 2 - Medium User
Background
Stanley is a Computer Science engineer and currently pursuing masters in Data Analysis and Visualization. He is very much intrigued by the power of data and information one can extract. He aspires to become one of the best data scientists and make a notable contribution.
Needs
Find classified and large dataset on the federal budget for the research project.
Experience with Open Data
Stanley uses open data in his day to day life as his job is to analyze the data. He is familiar with open data platforms and has the knowledge of how to use the right keywords to find the dataset. He feels he has still not discovered the best dataset yet.
Persona 3 - Expert User
Background
Carl Gray is a PhD candidate from John Hopkins University and also works as a Clinical Researcher at a pharmaceutical company in Indy. He focused his studies on drug contents and their side effects. For his research, he is looking ay datasets about drug abuse and its relation to the education rate in different neighbourhoods.
Needs
He needs datasets in .csv file format as it's easier for him to further conduct statistical analysis using his trusted software.
Experience with Open Data
Carl has been dealing with datasets for quite a long time. He uses an advance software to analyze the datasets downloaded from the data platform. He is considered an expert and works as a senior clinical researcher in Indy for the past 7 years.
We did 9 User Interviews to understand the user needs, their journey, pain points, pattern and their thought process. We then together sat down and translated all the data into user journeys maps for each of 3 different personas.
Ideate
We brainstormed around 40 ideas during our brainstorming sessions and based on feasibility and Cost we shortlisted to 2 ideas.
Idea 1
AI Assistance on the website
Idea 2
New Indiana Data Hub website
Low-Fi Prototype
We first build paper prototypes got all the ideas on the paper. Then build low fidelity wireframes to get a better idea, easier to brainstorm and finalize the layout.
Hi-Fi Prototype Usability Testing
We conducted hi-fi usability testing using semi-structured interview format into three steps: Usability test, Closing questions and SUS score sheet. Average SUS for the hi-fi prototype is 80.
Likes
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Category flip functionality
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Smart search recommendation
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Dataset description is helpful
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Dataset full expand view is helpful
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"Request dataset" functionality is helpful
Dislikes
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Two search bars on the results page
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Top Navigation blends in with the background
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Cannot undo the search result
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Scroll functionality is not intuitive
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Preview icons are confusing
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The license in the filter
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"View all" page on the subcategory page does not match the mental model
Challenges Faced
Throughout the project there were different types of challenges faced like a person whom we use to report on the client team got changed in the middle of the project, client not available, difficulty to get digital poster approved, find right participants and many more. Here are the few challenges that we all remember the most.
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Filter Design - Remove unnecessary elements and elevate the search result quality.
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Search Algorithm - to find a solution keeping the feasibility of CKAN platform and development force in mind.
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Usability Testing - We came across volunteer participant who had accessibility needs and we were completely not prepared, A big shame!
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UI template - Deciding the template which satisfies US gov website standards and accessibility was difficult.
Next Steps
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Handover the Design document to the Client
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Wait for what's implemented and the response rate
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Reiterate the high-fidelity based on the results and client's interest
Presentation
You are really interested if you still reading this case study. Thank you. So, here is the sneak peek of the incredible team I worked with during this one year project. Everyone's perspective was respected and any difference of opinion was handled maturely. Everyone had their own expertise, which together helped us perform best. I learned a lot during this project from my team members and yes had loads of fun working together.
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