N^o 1The Task

I was hired by the Product Directors to redesign and give the data platform a facelift, in terms of better UI & UX, while the development team was in the middle of a framework switch (Java to React).

N^o 2Role

Product UI/UX Designer

N^o 3Primary Users

The Data Platform was used by the Monitoring Analysts to keep all systems in check by diagnosing problems using raw data visualized in the platform.

N^o 4Research

My plan was to start with interviewing the primary users about the current platform and note down their pain points while brainstorming ideas with them as solutions.

N^o 5Pain Points

1. Arrangement of sections is not correct as per their priority
2. Better Data Visualization and overall Design
3. Too much unnecessary information which can be removed for better optimization

N^o 6Competitor (Reference)

The main competitor was SolarEgde, also a reference, because the monitoring analysts were using it to diagnose battery systems as the data did not exist in the current platform.

N^o 7Brainstorming

I started with sketching a couple of ideas on paper as options or concepts, turned them into wireframes, to run it by the users to see if we are on the same track.

N^o 8User Testing

I asked the same users to give feedback on the wireframes I created to have a better understanding of their needs while discussing additional features.

N^o 9Data Visualization

The second priority of the user was a better set of visualization streams especially because battery data would add five more streams of data in the existing data chart.

N^o 10Challenge

The challenge was to add battery data with five more streams of data including the three existing ones while thinking of ways to optimize the platform (reduce load time).

N^o 11Research

I started collaborating with Data Analysts to understand the data on a granular level, like Solar and Battery data on a typical day, while exploring Plotly* and Tableau*.

N^o 12Competitor

I revisited the SolarEdge platform for their Data Visualization as the users were using daily to do the job, but were not a fan of it because they needed more specific data.

N^o 12New Branding

The company was in the middle of a rebrand when I joined and I preferred to make use of the new branding colors for the new Data Visualization set.

N^o 13Mockups

I referred to the SolarEdge platform as well as learned more about Data Visualization in Edward Tufte* books, and designed the mockups for Solar & Battery systems.

N^o 14User Feedback

The users liked the mockups with one change/suggestion of having the toggle for data streams more clear above the data charts. They were also amazed to see the reduced diagnosis time and the overall optimization of the platform site page.

N^o 15Final Design

I implemented all the feedback from users in the mockup along with the updated data visualization set for the data platform, ready for engineering hand-off.

N^o 16Learnings

Data Visualization was new for me in this project but I took it as a challenge and researched the best practices while implementing it in the overall platform. I learned that deep enough research in any topic is always useful.