Background

Forecast5 Analytics is a data analytics company with a suite of software that allows school districts to solve problems using data analysis. 5Maps is one of their software solutions that focuses on location data and mapping.

The problem

Forecast5 Analytics acquired another company that had their own mapping software, with similar but different functionality. Because we would be inheriting their customers, it was important to redesign 5Maps to incorporate the features those customers would expect, while retaining the features we already had. In the process, we needed to make 5Maps more intuitive and usable because much of the functionality was hidden behind menus that were difficult to find.

Defining the Users

Our personas for this project were existing 5Maps users and existing GuideK12 users, both of which were primarily district administrators working on boundaries or on balancing school populations for a variety of factors.

5Maps Redesign | Forecast5 Analytics

Information Architect, UX Designer, UI Designer [role]
Pen and paper, Adobe XD, AxureRP [tools]

Design Process

I held an initial meeting with the new product owner, lead developer, and subject matter experts from both products to understand the needs of each client base. We reviewed functionality and came up with a list of features that either needed to be added to 5Maps, or existed in 5Maps and needed to be updated. We also discussed pain points for current users in both products. Based on that initial discussion, we identified a workflow and the pages needed to accomplish the most popular tasks.

Initial Flow
Features matrix Pen and paper sketch

The core group included the lead developer, the product owner, and myself. We met twice weekly to review ideas and iterations, with a SME present for the topic being discussed as well. These meetings were held online and, to save time, the product owner or SME would typically have either sketched out an idea for discussion or brought an example from a competitor. We would work through that as a group to ask questions related to our clients needs, determine feasibility, and discuss what it might look like in 5Maps.

SME idea Stakeholder idea Stakeholder idea

I would then create a wireframe based on our discussion that we would review at the next meeting. When we had completed a workflow for a particular task, I would add it to our prototype and test internally with users familiar with our clients and their tasks. They would work through real-world examples and provide feedback for continued iteration.

Version 1 of Map page Version 2 of Map page Version 3 of Map page

Because we went through our topics systematically, beginning with the most important functionality and pages, I was able to deliver annotated wireframes to development so they could work as we continued to design. Additionally, by involving the developer in the design discussions, we headed off most potential issues with development time and feasibility, resulting in a quicker development overall.

Annotated wireframe

Results

We released the MVP version of the new 5Maps to a select group of clients from both customer bases, and continued to iterate on the nice-to-have features. By showcasing this improved version of the software at our yearly conference, we exceeded our business plan for client migrations to the new software (which had a higher price point), and increased year-over-year client retention as well.