How it started
Water data in Mexico is scattered across a myriad of sources, big and small, from all levels of government, universities, businesses, and NGOs.
Decisions about this vital shared natural resource are difficult, since everyone has only a limited vision of its impact and importance.
At the initiative of FLACSO, a transdisciplinary project was launched with the goal of collecting as much data about water in Mexico as possible, trying to coordinate, collaborate, and align efforts across this complex landscape of actors. The initiative was incorporated into a national program of Digital Ecosystems.
Three main users of the platform were identified in the initial research: the government employee, the activist, and the researcher—each with a specific behavioral or cognitive profile and distinct data needs.
What I did
- Ran multiple alignment exercises to maintain the focus on outcomes, not features
- Conducted or supervised fieldwork and usability tests of prototypes to gain insights into key accessibility needs (including digital literacy)
- Led workshops and presented the product vision to increase stakeholder participation
- Successfully managed conflicting priorities among 50+ stakeholders, resulting in the delivery of the most impactful features
- Developed a public product communication strategy through a public changelog, feature documents, video tours, brochures, presentations, and tutorials
- Successfully managed deadlines and met feature expectations
- Implemented a compliance strategy to meet government technical, privacy, and transparency policies
Results
- Almost 1 million data records registered on the platform
- +30 data collections, including documents, data points, geographical and social information
- 20% more features delivered than expected
- Completed each version within 90% of the planned timeline
- Contributed +20 extra merge requests to the open-source UI library required by the government, including bug fixes, new components, and extended functionalities
- The targeted communication strategy enabled a shared understanding of data and technology across researchers, public officials, and program coordinators