GlobalData asked me to redesign their data analytics service, a service that was widely used by big businesses from automotive sector to construction, transportation and food and drinks. With a total of 17 different data sectors, containing multiple tables, charts and graphs. It was a complex system, used to inform companies on the best areas of their business to invest in, such as advertising or new technologies. The aim of my work was to make it easier to navigate and more visually engaging.
Tasks
I began by delving into the systems analytics, discovering the most used features by some of the biggest organisations. This was an important step to tailoring the system for their needs.
The next step was competitor research, exploring how GlobalData’s competitors were displaying the data was crucial. This helped us to understand the best practices but also where they were falling short, which gave us a big advantage.
With a clear understanding of how we wanted the system to function, I held meetings with the teams managing the different data sectors to understand the requirements for each component.
After these meetings I had a very clear idea of what each sector team expected of the system, the areas it was falling short, and features they wished to incorporate.
Actions
Based on the feedback from the sector teams, I began redesigning the components, each sector had different requirements and balancing all of these needs was a challenging task.
All designs were built in Figma, using a 3 layer tokenised design system of primitives, semantics and component level tokens and taking advantage of auto-layouts and component properties to speed up the design process.
With each new component designed and approved by the sector teams, I was able to handover the designs to the in-house developers, it was important to work closely with the developers to ensure the designs were consistent.
Results
The final outcome was a redeveloped data analytics system with redesigned charts, graphs and infographics. Companies could explore the system to help manage their business development plans, such as where to invest more on advertising and what new technologies to invest in.
The redesign of the system was very highly regarded and GlobalData have since become one of the highest regarded data analytics companies in the world.
