The team has reported time savings of 30-60 seconds per customer call, and gives them investigative consistency even in emergency situations like flash floods and drought.
Primary user groups have completely adopted the tool, and secondary groups across the organisation have a 72% return rate.
A design system with tokens and flexible design choices prepared Activity Tracker for continued expansion, enabling national scale.
Clunky and difficult to use, with important information lacking context in a spreadsheet. Activity Tracker combined 6 datasets into 1 intuitive geospatial interface with near-live updates.
In a nutshell
When I joined Activity Tracker, the project was in its early stages but had a promising value proposition: a geospatial monitoring tool that consolidated data and functionality from existing tools that people already used across the organisation. The challenge was largely understanding how people actually worked. Many users were deeply attached to their existing processes, even when they were complicated and manual.
I led research and hands-on design to ensure Activity Tracker was ready for launch and built on a foundation that could scale nationally and adapt to new organisational contexts.
Watercare
2022 - 2023
The challenge
Not just another tool in the toolbox.
Separating the signal from noise.
Different users, different needs.
The approach
The first six months focused on deeply understanding Watercare staff workflows and laying the groundwork for Activity Tracker. I uncovered real needs, shaped core layout and interaction decisions, and ensured the system was practical, intuitive, and aligned with day-to-day operations.
The research
1:1 discovery and usability testing
We ran an initial two rounds of 1:1 interviews with Watercare staff, exploring workflows, information needs, and pain points in the first round and validating design iterations in the second.
💡 Unlocking hidden workflows with contextual inquiry — Controllers were hard-to-access, always-on users with invisible workflows and long, irregular shifts. I championed deeper insight with this audience through contextual inquiry, uncovering real practices, from key priorities to restrictive desk setups, that directly shaped design decisions.
My colleagues sitting with a Controller in their control room, 2022. (Image source: ghostdynamics.co)
Beta testing
As we moved closer to launch, I ran an internal beta testing round with surveys and targeted 1:1 sessions, validating functionality, refining map and sidebar interactions, and prioritising future features. Insights from all research directly shaped design decisions, interaction patterns, and the foundation for future scalability beyond Watercare.
The insights
Speed determines success: Activity Tracker had to outperform long-standing tools that benefited from familiarity and tenure. Map interactions, clustering, and panels needed to enable faster comprehension and action, allowing users to achieve the same outcomes in significantly less time.
Visual hierarchy builds confidence: When legends and overlays were hard to find, users had to stop and interpret the interface instead of acting. A stronger visual hierarchy reduced cognitive load and supported faster, more confident decision-making.
Validation defines value: Beta testing and follow-ups clarified which features genuinely supported decision-making versus those that added noise, shaping a more focused and defensible roadmap.
Adoption follows relationships: Ongoing collaboration with Controllers and Operations built credibility and ownership across the organisation, turning key users into advocates for the tool internally.
The outcome
My Chapter Lead and Product Owner at the launch event.
Bringing it all together
The beta launch combined six months of research and design work. We presented a demo to the organisation, ran targeted communications, and collected feedback via surveys, ensuring the tool was tested, understood, and ready for adoption.
Co-designing the full journey
I synthesised research, iterations, and validation into a Journey Map capturing all core user workflows and interactions. Every step and feature, current or pipeline, reflected real user insights.
The map became a key artefact for the Product Owner to communicate Activity Tracker’s value to executives and the organisation, making a complex system understandable at a glance and highlighting the evidence-based decisions behind the design.
Launched and 100% adopted
Activity Tracker launched in June 2023. Of the primary user groups, we have 100% adoption rate. 🎉
Phase 2: Scaling and future features
The second phase focused on preparing Activity Tracker for broader organisational contexts. I worked closely with the Watercare team, which later joined the nationwide water reform, supporting new functionality, scalable workflows across multiple regions and asset types, and laying the foundation for future enhancements.
