Selected work

The Transportation Project: Davis transportation data tool for non-technical viewers

Role

Product Designer

Timeline

December 2025

Team

Project Manager

Product Designer

Data Scientists (4)

Software Engineers (4)

About ASUCD Innovation and Research Lab (IRL)

ASUCD (Associated Students of UC Davis) Innovation and Research Lab is Student-run software and research agency directly serving UC Davis students. They create applications and software in collaboration with various ASUCD units but also holds hackathons and technology events to increase the representation of the STEM community within ASUCD.

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

Building robust applications that apply software developments to the evolving needs of ASUCD bodies.

RESEARCH AND DATA COMMITTEE

Elevating student voices by providing data to student representatives on issues that impact the student body.

The task at hand

When I joined IRL, their research team had previously collected extensive data on student transportation methods - bus ridership, parking usage, and other mobility patterns.

Their goal was to package this information for stakeholders like student government who control budget allocations for transportation services. The ultimate mission was ensuring every student had equitable travel options both on and off campus.

PROJECT GOAL

Make student transportation data more visible and accessible to student government stakeholders to ensure that every student has equitable travel options both on and off campus.

Challenges: Two-week deadline and rapid iteration

Because IRL was scheduled to meet with ASUCD senators in the upcoming weeks, I was given a two-week timeline to conduct brief research, schedule feedback check-ins with management and engineers, ideate a product, create a suitable design system, and rapidly prototype.

Working within a tight two-week timeline meant making strategic decisions about my process. I couldn't conduct formal interviews with the intended users, requiring me to rely on existing research, team knowledge, and design principles to guide my approach.

How might I steer away from traditional data analysis interfaces to make the Transportation Project friendlier and less intimidating?

The Transportation Project was intended to be viewed by both ASUCD senators and students. To move away from traditional data presentation formats that intimidate non-analytical users, I drew inspiration from consumer apps like Philz Coffee, which uses a fill-in-the-blank approach for ordering.

Philz Coffee app

Key findings on non-technical users

In first iteration of the data visualization tool, the left container contained editable fields, such as drop-downs and other selectors. This served as a good starting point, but 2 conversations with students - 1 English Major at UC Berkeley and 1 Data Science Major at UC Davis - highlighted the fundamental differences between a non-technical user who have don't typically require powerful data analysis softwares, and a technical user, who navigates these tools confidently in their day-to-day.

Basia Young, English Major @ UC Berkeley

"I don't use these types of tools usually. I had to use Tableau for a research project, and I was bored and it took me a while to figure things out."

Andrew Kuang, Data Science Major @ UC Davis

"In data science, we use Jupyter, R, SQL, and other tools constantly to visualize data…powerful tools."

Basia cited one class project involving Tableau to conduct research on literary trends. She found it difficult to navigate the tool, and found the project boring. When asked if she would conduct a similar project in her own time, Basia said no, the project had been too stressful. Basia's discomfort with Tableau informed me that if I was designing for a non-technical user, I had to steer further away from traditional softwares, create a positive and welcoming experience, and incentivize them to keep navigating the Transportation Project comfortably.

Landing page iterations

The home page also went through several rounds of iterations. The original functionality was to serve as a simple landing page with a primary call to action. The team decided to expand this to provide more context on (1) what IRL is and (2) how data is collected.

The Transportation Project: Conversational data visualization

I designed the Transportation Project to guide users through a conversational experience. Rather than consult powerful data analysis tools, I prioritized simplicity and approachability.

Home page

The home page seeks to provide users with more information on how IRL works and how data is collected. The purpose of this is to build trust and present the tool as an credible resource backed by real data. The IRL team requested to display carbon emissions at the top to promote environmental awareness. The home page also serves to launch the user softly into the tool.

Fill-in-the-blanks data analysis questions

Data analysis dashboards and fields are often stacked with jargon, creating an unwelcoming experience for non-analytical users. By allowing users to fill in the blanks to a plainly asked question, we enable them to embrace the process of data visualization.

Data visualization

Users may continue exploring the data by editing their previous question, as well as compare data from an additional bus line. They may choose to view the raw data, export it, and view the data in different formats such as a line chart. Each chart has a written description, and each question is provided information on the source of the data. The simple interface aims to make users feel comfortable while allowing them the freedom to further comprehend the data.

Outcome and plans for future iterations

By reimagining how transportation data could be accessed, I created an experience that made complex information approachable for decision-makers who control student transportation resources. This project:

Has been presented and was well-received by ASUCD stakeholders
Is currently being deployed (stay tuned!)
Is moving into second iteration with additional features exploring parking data and predictive tools

Lessons learned: Ideate broadly, find inspiration everywhere, and design to be understood

Throughout the Transportation Project, I learned how to work quickly under pressure. I tackled ambiguous directions by making strategic decisions and was surprised to be inspired by my favorite coffee app. When direct user interviews wasn't possible, I learned how to find creative alternatives and balanced data integrity with accessibility for non-technical users.