Communication Leadership Consulting, University of Washington
Strategic Dashboard Design: Data Visualization and Process Automation for Real-Time Intelligence
Communication Leadership Consulting, a University of Washington program, relied on labor-intensive quarterly and annual reporting processes that limited strategic agility. As the Lead Designer, I identified an opportunity to revolutionize our intelligence capabilities by designing a real-time dashboard system. I led the complete transformation from research through implementation, creating an intuitive platform that enables immediate strategic insights and market responsiveness for organizational leadership.
Role
Lead System Designer & UX Researcher
year
2025
team
Project Managers: Alex Stonehill, Susan Maclaren
Client
Communication Leadership Consulting connects small organizations (clients) with motivated graduate students (consultants) to solve customer engagement challenges.
context
Quarterly impact reports required 3-5 days of manual work with zero strategic insights
A successful consultancy was drowning in its own data. Staff couldn't answer basic questions like "Has this client worked with us before?" or "What's this consultant's success rate?" - not because the information didn't exist, but because it was scattered across multiple disconnected files.
This forced staff to:
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Manually search across files (Ctrl+F ) to find information
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Copy-paste data between systems creating inconsistencies and duplicates
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Spend 10+ hours/week on administrative tasks
The Opportunity:
Manual reporting was hiding transformational market intelligence in our platform data
Fragmented data sources required extensive manual compilation, preventing real-time strategic insights.
Sensitive PII (Personally Identifiable Information) has been blurred for privacy.
The Solution
Real-time automated dashboard with interactive transparency and strategic intelligence
Instead of manually extracting and counting data each quarter, I designed an automated dashboard that continuously analyzes our datasets to surface strategic insights.
Real-time project analytics with interactive drill-down capabilities. Consultant and client composition analysis shows retention rates and organizational demographics
key features
Automated Intelligence
Consultancy metrics & insights update automatically in real-time
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Instant project counts with dynamic filters
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Extensible backend for new metrics
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Archived reports enable historical comparison and success tracking
Interactive Transparency
Every data point is clickable and transparent
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Clickable data points reveal source details
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Hover explanations for all metrics
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Full project drill-downs across charts
Strategic Pattern Recognition
Real-time analytics uncovered high-value patterns
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Seasonal demand trends (Autumn peak, Summer opportunity gaps)
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Service gap identification (UX consultant shortage, social media client demand)
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Data-driven recruitment and strategy recommendations
Complete dashboard interface showcasing seamless navigation between overview metrics and detailed project data through consistent design patterns.
“Before, we were always reacting to demand after the fact. Now I can see seasonal patterns and service gaps in real-time, so we can actually plan targeted marketing campaigns and adjust our strategy proactively.”
-- Content Strategist, Communication Leadership Consulting
results & Impact
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Reporting time reduced by 95%: From 3-5 days per quarter to real-time access
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100% automation of quarterly reporting eliminated manual counting errors
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Segment-specific strategies for clients vs consultants now possible
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Scalable system: Backend supports unlimited metrics and user roles for organizational growth
design process behind the transformation
Define & Ideate
step 2
Defining dashboard requirements
Based on stakeholder needs and existing data structure, I identified core requirements:
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Real-time automation: Eliminate manual counting and compilation
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Interactive exploration: Allow users to drill into metrics for context
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Strategic focus: Present insights that inform planning and resource decisions
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Historical tracking: Enable trend analysis and year-over-year comparisons
RESEARCH & DISCOVERY
step 1
Understanding the quarterly reporting struggle
I observed staff spending 3-5 days each quarter manually extracting and counting data across multiple spreadsheets for strategic reports. This created decision-making delays and prevented real-time insights.
Key findings:
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The data already existed in our platform—it just needed automated aggregation and visualization
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Manual counting and compilation led to inconsistent reports and data trust issues, making stakeholders question reliability for strategic decisions.
A data audit revealed rich, underutilized metadata
Our platform optimization had already created structured data ready for real-time intelligence:
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Project metadata supported automated categorization
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Hidden seasonal/temporal insights emerged from historical data
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Cross-segment comparisons (client vs consultant) became possible
Sketches of thought process and ideation of dashboard
design & Implement
step 3
Translating requirements into a functional system
I focused on leveraging existing data infrastructure while designing new visualization layers that would integrate seamlessly into current workflows:
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Connected directly to existing project databases to eliminate manual data entry
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Designed drill-down functionality for both high-level strategic and granular operational views
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Implemented role-based dashboards tailored to different stakeholder needs
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Created a flexible widget system so teams could customize layout and prioritize key metrics
“I used to dread pulling reports because it meant days of manual work. Now I can demonstrate our value to supporters, consultants, and clients with live data that tells the real story.”
-- Brand Manager, Communication Leadership Consulting
Key Takeaways for UX Practitioners
Design for Discovery, Not Just Display:
The most valuable insights emerged from patterns we didn't expect to find.
Intelligence as Competitive Advantage:
Real-time market intelligence enabled proactive rather than reactive organizational strategy.
Think Beyond the Brief:
Think Beyond the Brief: