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An Interface Enabling Interactive Data Lineage Tracking
Nowadays, each individual is the owner of our own data. One Creation enables data protection by giving the control of data privacy directly to me and you - the data owners. Within each user’s data privacy dashboard, there is an interactive map. This is meant to serve as an end-to-end data lineage tracking tool.
However, it is currently disorganized, outdated, and not scalable for large datasets, which makes it very difficult for users to understand and work with the data map.
I had the opportunity to partner with 2 UX designers to re-design the map for One Creation, with the goal to enable an intuitive and interactive experience for users with or without industrial knowledge.
If you are looking at this, do you understand what is going on on this dashboard?
Our team had no clue and that’s why we were handed this project.
Our first week were mainly spent on identifying what is wrong with this map?!
Lack an easy and intuitive way to understand the end-to-end data lineage from a map view.
No distinction between different types of users with only one design.
Current map does not incorporate a scalable framework to allow thousands or millions of dataset.
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The purpose of the current map is unclear and confusing.
As a result, current map has very low usage and user retention.
Additionally, it sets a high bar for users to adapt to the product.
After meeting with our client to align the business goal of the data lineage map and pinpointing user needs through in depth user research, we identified that there should be respective versions of data lineage maps to serve different platform users.
Our goal has then diverged based 2 user types
DESKTOP users and MOBILE users
Independent Map Usage
To offer an intuitive and easy-to-use way to track company’s data
Data-Driven Decisions
To create a solution for end-to-end data tracking to identify patterns and trends among the data
Knowledge + Awareness
To offer guidance and direction on how to protect data
Privacy Active Users
To encourage users to be more proactive about their data privacy
Control + Trust
To provide an easy way to decide if and how their data gets collected and used
Transparency
To easily identify what data has been collected and track how it’s being used
Even though the proposed goal of this project is that the final design should be feasible for all kinds of users without industrial knowledge, the data lineage map is all about data privacy.
Frankly, no one in our team had experience in data privacy industry. There is a huge gap between our knowledge around this product.
Then how are we gonna design a data lineage map if we don’t even know how data privacy works?
We struggled, but we found a way out.
We shifted our normal practice of the design thinking process to be more RESEARCH focused.
We spent an extensive amount of time to study the company and the product itself.
We asked a lot of questions.
Then, we focused on identifying user needs, pinpointing user frustrations, and aligning business goals with the client and stakeholders.
This process helped to build the foundation of our knowledge in this product and eventually led to a successful design with great feedback.
Through company research, we understood that the data lineage map should help tracking and showing the transparency of who is using what data and how, down to the attribute level for desktop and mobile users.
Through competitive analysis, we identified the limitation, or even lacking, of the data tracking visualization across the data privacy industry.
We developed survey, conducted 1:1 interviews, and tested original data map with users to understand needs and frustrations.
We translated research insights from usability testing into persona Joe to inform our design decision for desktop users.
We translated research insights from interviews and survey into persona Joline to inform our design decision for mobile users.
We practiced iterative and agile design process where iterations happen anytime, anywhere.
Evolution of the desktop home page:
We had to keep in mind that the new design should be scalable for large dataset.
We went through 6 rounds of iterations and finally achieve what we want on the home page, which is a design that tells users how big the data set is but at the same time not overwhelming if the data set grows larger.
DESKTOP - Reverse tracking page
Mobile - dATASOURCE PAGE
As we struggled with understanding the map itself and the key elements within the map. A highlight of the final design is to create an easy to understand component of each element that appears across the map.
Active Learning Mindset
In a world where technology is growing rapidly, it is nearly impossible to be familiar every product right away. Active learning mindset is as important as empathizing with users to understand the core value of the product that we are about to design.
Communication is the Key to Success
Constant communication with clients and stakeholders kept our team on track in this challenging project, especially with complex product concept and limited time.
Step by step guide for users who are not familiar with the software and industrial terminology.
When clicked on the below icons, a pop up will appear to explain the function or term. This should serve as a tutorial legend for what each element means.
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Test with real data set to check the scalability of the design.
Current design has not tested with real-world data yet. Conducting a usability testing with actual data will help to confirm that this design is scalable for large data set, which is one of the goal of this project.
