Due to budget constraints, we were unable to conduct a usability study to determine which parts of the existing application needed to be improved. Instead, I decided to take two approaches:

• Review existing metrics and interaction data to identify points in the app that were receiving the least amount of use

• Interviewing CDC stakeholders to determine not just which pieces they wanted to update on the app, but also to learn about their experience with their users throughout the years and how we could use their experience as proxies for their users.

One highlight that came from stakeholder interviews is that existing users were confused about how to access specific visualizations in the application.

To help users understand this further, we turned to the home page. Here, rather than starting by looking for data, users are presented with the exact visualizations that can be created and exported on the application.

One key takeaway from the initial usability research showed that users were not selecting the indicators they wanted to view on the app. This potentially meant they were missing out on at least half of the data they could have access to - so how can we help them find the data they want?

To solve this, we centered the indicator selection process in the UI. Before any data is loaded, users are prompted to select which items they would like to see (as opposed to using default selections).