Interface and visual design for business analysis software

Cost Benefit Systems is the developer of True Impact, a tool for measuring the monetary and social value of corporate initiaives.

CHALLENGE
True Impact asks users to detail the positive and negative effects that a program will have -- will it add work for company staff? save customers time? benefit communities? generate tax revenue? and so on. This assessment process is akin to filling out taxes online -- it is thorough and methodical and ultimately leads to an answer, but could also seem laborious or disorienting if not well-presented.

SOLUTION
Graphical progress indicators keep users oriented; showing how far along they are and what's left. Steps can be flagged and skipped for filling in later, and users can exit at any time and automatically pick up where they left off. We also use their answers to pre-fill subsequent steps and "fast-forward" the process as much as possible.

Icons mixed with numeric data provide at-a-glance assessment -- red means bad, green means good -- as well as precise point-by-point comparison of trade-offs.

MY ROLE
I worked closely with the client to translate the complex information needs into an intuitive tool, created the full visual and interface design, and coded all HTML templates for the programmer to integrate into the application.

True Impact is available from Cost Benefit Systems.
www.true-impact.com