CDC DASH School Health Profiles Explorer
Role: UX Research & Design | Challenges: Limited time & utilizing existing design | Tools Used: Axure
The School Health Profiles Explorer reimagines the CDC’s YRBS Explorer for a new dataset. Our challenge: adapt a design built for simplicity to support a more complex data structure—without blowing the timeline or budget.
We revamped the home and data pages to support the new structure while improving usability and information architecture. User testing confirmed the updates felt intuitive, with little learning curve. Feedback also revealed key areas for refining the home page experience.
YRBS Question Listing
Map Visualization
SHPE Question listing with sub-questions
Sub-question listing in data page
Saving time & money with preexisting designs
Before the School Health Profiles Explorer (SHPE), users accessed data through static PDF reports, limiting their ability to analyze, export, or compare information. SHPE was developed to help school districts across the country better understand what’s being taught in schools and to support data-driven decision-making. With just one click, users can now view localized data and easily compare states or districts. The project faced two key constraints: a tight timeline to launch by mid-2024 alongside a national data release, and a technical need to align with the existing Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance (YRBS) Explorer. To address both, we repurposed the YRBS design—saving time and enabling a smoother experience for users familiar with the companion tool. Together, these apps offer a fuller picture of student health: one reflecting student behavior, the other revealing school policies and teaching practices.
Research
Due to the significant overlap between this project and the YRBS system, we relied on insights from previous YRBS user studies to inform our design decisions. The most important takeaway was that users needed quick and easy access to data. This insight became the driving force behind our design strategy, guiding how we structured content and prioritized features.
Ideation
We worked closely with stakeholders during the ideation phase to ensure the design aligned with the new data structure. This collaboration led to several key design additions: subtopics and subquestions on the home page, subquestion toggles within the data view pages, and an interactive map to enable quick and easy location comparisons. Each of these features was designed to enhance discoverability while keeping the interface streamlined.
Testing the Design
Once the design was complete, we conducted a usability study with 15 participants—6 new users, 3 moderately familiar, and 6 experienced with the system. The System Usability Scale (SUS) score came in at 84.7.. The most common challenge surfaced on the home page, where users—though drawn to the visual elements like color and icons—felt overwhelmed by the volume of information. Despite this, user feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Many saw the tool as a major improvement over the previous static PDF reports and appreciated the filter options. Several even suggested expanding the filter system to help them find relevant data more quickly.
In the end, this design was easily understood and used by the participants and successfully came within the time and budget constraints.