URBAN DATA COLLECTIVE

Enabling the access and sharing of real-time IoT data to drive smarter urban solutions, using EV as a key use case.

Research

UX/ UI

Product Strategy

Start-up

Oct 2020 - May 2021

The Challenge

Local authorities, councils and infrastructure providers struggle to plan effectively, prioritise investment, and deliver services that meet the needs of cities and people within them. The solutions and management of urban infrastructure have become reactive instead of proactive, meaning this prevents sustainable, forward-thinking practices across all sectors, such as transport, housing and local services.

The Solution

The launch of a start-up, platform and community that enables data-informed decisions through the process of buying and selling real-time IoT. It simplifies the process and demonstrates its value, helping to overcome trust, licensing, and accessibility issues while fostering innovation. The solution enabled ethical data sharing that unlocks innovation and supports smarter, more sustainable cities.

The Process

  • My role spread across Research & UX/UI, however in this agile environment, I was proactive in adapting to fill gaps in the process, which filtered over into business, product and brand strategy.

    I ran a team alignment workshop to set guiding principles and define a clear purpose and outcome of each activity across the roadmap, flagging risks or dependencies. (The team consisted of a Business Designer, Product Manager, Project Manager, 4 Software Engineers and 2 founders). The workshop built a strong foundation for cross-disciplinary collaboration.

    I conducted stakeholder interviews to define partner roles, expectations and goals, creating alignment from the outset. Our partners would be the beta testers and key case studies to help communicate the value of the start-up.

    After further discussions at varying levels (business, technical and experience), 4 key use cases were prioritised:

    EV Charging: Sharing data from Charge Point Operators with local government to support wider rollout.

    Flexible Energy: Exploring data from assets solar panels in schools and heating in social housing.

    Heathrow Digital Twin: Assessing how Heathrow’s digital twin could both use and contribute shared datasets.

    Data Catalogue: Investigating integration with the OASC data catalogue.

    I conducted in-depth user interviews with end-users of the data, including developers, data providers, local authorities, and EV owners. This captured perspectives across various use cases to guide business decisions.

  • I invited the co-founder to attend all the user interviews to hear first-hand needs of partners and future customers. When communicating insights, I shared direct quotes, diagrams and journey maps to demonstrate the problem space, how everything overlapped and came together to deliver value. 

    The journey map captured interconnected journeys of key players across the use cases, including developers, councils, authorities, data providers, and airports. It demonstrated how their paths overlap and diverge across a shared ecosystem.

    This mapping highlighted the sequence of actions required to reach end goals, while also showing research-informed challenges and opportunities for improvement across the wider network. It helped communicate the outcomes of research and better position our offering.

  • Being an innovative tech start-up, ideation was a key phase to engage partners, senior stakeholders, developers and designers to explore the possibilities.

    I conducted a series of 3 session to brainstorm, discuss and refine ideas, considering how the platform could best support this outcome. It was important to think of the story we wanted to tell at the end that would support future growth.

    I took a key role in refining the use cases, generating user stories and creating a delivery roadmap. I also supported facilitation of discussions around value proposition mapping and business models, securing a sustainable and scalable business.

  • Unifying a start-up from the ground up was about more than making decisions, but about creating a shared vision and sense of identity. Therefore, I ran a brand strategy workshop to spark creative thinking, enable deeper discussions and future-thinking around who we want to be, the company personality and how we want to make people feel.

    Together, the team mapped various process diagrams to organise the logistics of licensing and process flows of accessing data. I designed wireframes from low to high fidelity, testing them with target users through user testing sessions, and iterated based on insights.

    Embedded within the engineering team during delivery and launch, we ensured designs were feasible, responsive, and built effectively through agile sprints and demos.

  • Sitemap diagram

    Sitemap

  • Value proposition, User flow, roadmap and business model canvas

    Business Design

  • Screens with post-it annotations from user testing

    User Testing

  • Screens from the platform

    Platform Design

The Result

Urban Data Collective is continuing to support cities and public sector organisations unlock the value of data.

It has helped Surrey County Council improve day-to-day operations and strengthen long-term planning.

It has enabled the Urban Observatory network to deliver live traffic and air quality dashboards for government users, and improve EV parking reservations through integrated charge point and sensor data.

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Small snippets of other projects I've been involved in.