Launching a new platform with the same values of transparency and accountability

Years in the making, the Commons Police dashboard makes police data publicly accessible. I led the handoff of the project, supported developers during development, and conducted usability testing on the platform.

Finalized designs all around me. I entered the project to complete the handoff and support developers through implementation.

I collaborated with developers to anticipate challenges, discuss technical complexities, and manage the overall workload throughout the project to meet the set go-live date.

01

There I was…

The team planned for usability testing to occur before the go-live date. With enough time to incorporate fixes for any glaring usability issues in the platform. The research discovered several insights:

02

Survey Says!

Desktop navigation is intuitive, but more difficult on mobile

Data organization was easy to navigate for desktop users, but mobile interactions needed to be refined.

More information around data builds trust

Users looked for context to be able to answer their questions and trust the data.

Users want to engage with data in new ways

Users looked for options to visualize data in multiple ways, citing different use cases.

Desktop & Mobile Require Specific UX

Our previous efforts to reduce component complexity were limiting our ability to meet user needs and mental models. Moving forward, new features and platform enhancements would need to consider if unique interactions for mobile and desktop would be more intuitive, rather than the previous “one-size-fits-all” approach to site UX.

03

Team Learnings

Useful data requires valuable visuals

Users look for Interactive features and more robust ways to engage with data. New features were received well and helped users arrive at the deep insights they were searching for.

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

The Police Commons sites were the first time the team used a map to display data. Visualizing data this way provides agencies and communities with powerful insights, while also allowing users to analyze how the data trends over time.