Product Design
UX Research

Time:
February - May 2022

My Role:
Product Designer

Methods:
Stakeholder Interviews
Competitive Analysis
Ideation
Information Architecture
User Flows
Wireframing
Prototyping
Usability Testing

Overview:
Improving holistic community development through construction management software

The NYC Mayor's Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the city's chief financial agency, oversees 90 city agencies (Department of Education, NYC Housing Authority, etc.) with an annual budget exceeding $100B.

We designed a construction management tool that can be used by cross-functional teams within the cities construction system. Our final product was designed to be used by Agencies (like the Department of Education) with future expansion to contractors, laborers, and more. I completed this project with the NYC Mayor's Office of Management and Budget in my second semester of the Information Experience Design Masters program at Pratt.

The Problem

New York City receives over $400m in federal funds through the Community Development Block Grant to support public construction projects, but agencies are not meeting compliance benchmarks required by this grant. These compliance benchmarks are set by Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968.

" It's so overwhelming of what they're truly asking us to do that we've not done anything."
Client perspective:
NYC Mayor's Office of Management & Budget

Who are we designing for?

We organized interviews with stakeholders like the Department of Education, NYC Small Business Services, and the Department for the Aging. We completed desk research about the different forms, compliance regulations and flow of information amongst stakeholders to find out what areas needed to be communicated better. 

How does the current Section 3 system work?

What functions does OMB need from a management tool?

01

Discovery

Who are we designing for?
How is the current system working?
How can we help these users?

Combine all report data for federal compliance to have a track record of Section 3 efforts across NYC

Improve compliance recognition for contractors who engage with Section 3 and show the benefits of engaging with the requirements

Create a one stop shop for all construction management so that the whole construction system can be improved in the long term

  • We consolidated our research into personas to better understand the different perspectives of users at the governmental, agency and business level.

  • NYC Government

  • Agency

  • Agency

  • Construction Business

What are the consolidated pain points of the OMB stakeholders?

Defining the key goals of the tool

How do other industries manage projects?

We found that progress visualization, staff feedback, and panels to include the team's tasks were divided as key areas to adopt into our construction management tool. Transparency across the whole project process from creation to reporting is key.  

European Project Funding

Smartsheet management

Financial Management tools

Information Architecture

We identified that we could address the agency's needs through five dashboard sections that holistically managed the construction site for site managers. The reports section would provide OMB with an overview of the efforts made to Section 3 funding compliance.

Exploring user flows across the platform

We found sketching as a team provided us lots of opportunity to tease out the best paths for each user type across the platform.

We took these user flows and created low fidelity wireframes on Figma including:

  1. Onboarding

  2. Creating a new project

  3. Creating a report

02

Mapping the needs of OMB into information architecture and user flows

Exploring the flow

  • Onboarding Wireframes

  • New Project wireframes

  • Creating a report wireframe

Design principles:
Adaptive

A flexible interface for interdisciplinary teams, allowing holistic project management for various projects and programs

Empowering

integrating resources and discoverable functions make compliance simpler, and more informative

Visual Exploration

Initial Medium fidelity prototyping

03

Designing the final tool

Exploring visuals and high fidelity

Visual Research:
Building the city

We researched visuals reflecting the nuts and bolts of construction development while keeping the platform modern and vibrant. Information visualization through maps inspired our use of the NYC grid system in our final branding

We explored visuals of NYC's classic architecture creating patterns with the maps and grid system. The grid system inspired the building of the forward-focused project management system logotype.

Moodboard

  • Landing Page entrance

  • Login

  • MedFi Dashboard

  • Business Resources

  • Project Dashboard

  • Directory for contractors to find employees in their area

Usability Testing with the Client:
NYC Mayor's Office of Management and Budget​​​​​​​

We tested our prototypes with the client to identify if our flows, information architecture and dashboards worked for the compliance and needs of OMB.

We brought the feedback and voted as a team on what to prioritize for the full initial high fidelity prototype.

Welcome to the Final Product!

We designed a construction management tool that can be used by cross-functional teams within NYC's construction system. Our final product was designed to be used by Agencies (like the Department of Education) with future expansion to contractors, laborers, and more. 

We realized after our User Research that our tool had to be used for all facets of construction management, not just a single funding tool to have the best chance of integration into the current system!

Feature 1: Dashboard Overview

Construction information all in one place and finding information for reporting. The overview allows the C/Plan user to see what tasks and projects they are currently working on.

Feature 2: New Projects & Bids

Creating new projects and soliciting bids from contractors. C/Plan notifies contractors in the project location to improve Section 3 local hiring aims.

Feature 3: Project Details

Managing individual project aspects including the project progress, team tasks, accounting of labor hours, funding reports, and compliance hiring aims.

Feature 4: Directory & Resources

Addressing compliance queries with directory & resources for project types, funding types, and platform questions. We also added blank states for C/Plan users to compile their own resources for their own skills.

Feature 5: Report Compiling

Completing reports with auto-filled project information from the C/Plan database. We prototype the HUD - 60002 form that is completed annually by the NYC Mayor's Office of Management and Budget.

What did the client and OMB think?

Evan Pellegrino
Unit Head | Community Development Program Unit
NYC Mayor’s Office of Management & Budget

"Overall, I think the product could increase participation and compliance and serve as a great administrative tool, not just for Section 3 but for project management in general. Kudos!

I especially appreciated the compliance screen that applies requirements to projects by funding source. It would be super helpful for agencies and contractors alike for the system to layer funding sources/associated requirements, which can get complicated (as I’m sure you’ve learned), especially when multiple funding sources are involved. Your product is a great design-based approach to making the relevant requirements of the project more clear.  

Another feature that struck me was the compliance grade by the contractor (A, B, C). This proposal would assist agencies to manage Section 3 requirements and keep tabs on where additional efforts would be warranted. And similar to the hiring efforts, I really liked how visible your product places this feature – if a contractor is lacking, it would be clear to both them and the agency. Simple yet brilliant.

I want to offer gratitude for how closely you considered the nuts and bolts of these processes, surveyed relevant stakeholders, and presented slick and sophisticated tools that would create solutions directly for which we’re trying to solve for. You’ve exceeded expectations."

Thank you for looking through my work!
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