Data analytics builder
for tracking strategy progress
Company
Cascade Strategy
Project type
Web application
Role
End-to-end product design
Overview
Cascade Strategy is a strategy execution tool for business to facilitate planning, execution, and tracking their strategy.
The company has made the decision to undertake a comprehensive rewrite of the product for the next generation. As part of my team's responsibilities, we are in charge of building a user-friendly dashboard that is able to create visualised data to monitor progress and analyse data for their strategy insight.
We aim to improve the dashboard due to the complex and non-intuitive user flow within the dashboard in the current generation.
Problems
The dashboard in current generation has two big problems :
High abandonment rate (42%) while creating a new chart by complex user flow and not intuitive interaction, impacting low retention rate.
Lost customer deals by not enough flexibility and range of options to create charts.
Goals
So our goals for the next generation are :
Immediate value delivery by building charts experience in the quick and easy ways.
Expandable features for users to tailor their experience to their evolving needs, enhancing their satisfaction and engagement as they become more proficient.
What caused the problems..?
Interviews
To gather insights on the pain-points and needs, I conducted a series of moderated interviews with our existing customers who utilize the current generation dashboard and our internal Customer Success Management (CSM) team. And I categorized user needs by each tasks on affinity diagram.
Usability tests
To understand where exactly the users are struggling to complete their tasks, I conducted usability tests based on the insights of the interviews and analyze the reason of the problems.
Persona
Based on the interviews, two personas are identified.
Early/casual users
Role/position in an organisation
Individual contributors
Operators
Team managers
Executives
Proficiency in Cascade
Not familiar with what Cascade is capable
Users on 4 days free trial or Premium plan with limited features (less than 2 months after 14 days free trial)
Don’t have much data sources in Cascade yet
Might not be a tech savvy
User needs/behavior in the dashboard
Want to understand what the dashboard capable to figure out if Cascade is valuable to keep using
Power/migration users
Role/position in an organisation
Team managers
Executives
Data analysts
Risk managers
Proficiency in Cascade
Familiar with the dashboard features in the current generation, and expect better than that
Premium or Enterprise users who have been using Cascade for over 6 months
Have enough data sources in Cascade
User needs/behavior in the dashboard
Want to customize charts to have the best dashboard for their data visualization in multiple purposes
How might we allow users to easily understand how to create a new chart?
Solution directions
Discoverability
To deliver a clear understanding of the value they can derive from the dashboard
To empower users to have learning exercise by exploring the dashboard's functionalities and content
To allow users to make informed decisions about maximizing the value they extract from the dashboard
Streamlined Workflow
By minimizing unnecessary steps, reducing cognitive load, and eliminating friction points, a streamlined workflow empowers users to accomplish their tasks quickly and seamlessly
This promotes a sense of confidence and control, leading to greater user satisfaction and engagement, which can unlock higher user adoption rates
Clarity of Interaction
To deliver a tangible understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship between user's actions and the resulting changes
To allow users to easily rearrange, reposition, or dashboard layout while configuring data and chart types
To empower users to experiment, iterate, and fine-tune their interactions, leading to a deeper understanding of the system's capabilities and a sense of control and confidence to customize charts
Ideation/
User-flow/
Wireframe/
Pros and cons
Defining the main user flow and wireframes for visualizing the desired user experience and understanding the associated pros, cons, and technical constraints. This process allows the team for effective planning and consideration of factors that can impact the successful execution of the roadmap.
Implement
Strategy/
Scoping
After analyzing the pros and cons, taking into account factors such as technical limitations, user mutuality, adoptability, and product scalability, we have made the decision to prioritize the release of widget templates, followed by the custom chart builder, and hold the dashboard templates in this stage.
This strategic approach ensures a gradual and effective rollout of features based on their respective benefits and the overall roadmap objectives.
User journey
I created a user journey considering user needs and the availability of different data sources based on their stage in the onboarding/learning the product. By providing relevant and accessible data sources, we aim to ensure that users can quickly derive value from the dashboard and gradually progress towards becoming power users.
Final Design Solutions
Widget templates
The Widget library offers a variety of commonly used charts across industries. The new design guides users to easily find the desired chart through categorizing tabs on the left side, while providing a thumbnail and description for a clearer understanding of each chart's function and appearance.
The chart configuration process within the widget library can be completed with just a couple of clicks, as the chart type and data source are pre-configured for optimal use. Users can quickly add charts to their dashboard and discover the capabilities and value within the product.
I have prioritized design principles for data visualization considering accessibility during the chart design process. Each widget has been crafted to fulfill its specific purpose, ensuring that users can efficiently visualize and interpret the data.
Custom
chart builder
The custom chart builder occupies the entire screen, allowing users to view all the elements involved in configuring a chart without hidden elements. This comprehensive view helps users understand what to do for creating a chart at a glance.
Additionally, the UI incorporates clear indicators for active and inactive states, enabling users to quickly identify where to begin.
After selecting the data source as the first step, the input fields become active, allowing users to enter their data.
Depending on the chosen chart type and data source, the available configuration options for creating a chart vary. The user interface clearly indicates the active and disabled states of the Dimensions and Measures, providing instant visual feedback to users as they explore different chart types and data sources. This enables users to easily understand which options are applicable for their specific chart configuration.
The drag and drop interaction feature empowers users to explore and experiment with creating charts in an intuitive manner, enabling them to customize the data visualization to best suit their intentions. The visual cues of green and blue colors provide guidance on which elements correspond to specific attributes, facilitating a clear understanding of how each element and attribute interact with one another and impact the resulting data visualization. This visual feedback assists users in comprehending the relationship between different elements and attributes, enhancing their ability to create effective and visually appealing charts.
Impacts
Reducing the
bounce rate
(Amplitude)
Reducing the bounce rate from 42% to 22% indicates an improvement in user engagement and retention. This metric measures the percentage of users who initially accessed the widget library but did not complete the task of adding a chart. By reducing the abandonment rate, the new design has successfully encouraged more users to complete the chart creation process, resulting in lowered learning curve and increased user satisfaction.
Time savings
(Usability test)
The significant time savings achieved through the new design, reducing the task execution speed to create a new chart from 7-15 minutes to 1-2 minutes on widget template, demonstrate enhanced efficiency and usability. Users can now complete the task more quickly, leading to increased user satisfaction.
User satisfaction
(Interview)
With 100% of users who have experienced the previous version expressing that the new design is more intuitive and easier to use, user satisfaction is at its highest level. This positive feedback indicates that the new design has successfully addressed usability issues and provided a more user-friendly experience, resulting in improved user satisfaction and overall product perception.
And..
The team members are happy 😄
(Feedback in retro)
