Tally
the only reporting tool that understands campaigns
- Role
Designer & Developer
Building Tally
Driven by the need to collect performance data in the field, we built Tally: a reporting solution that moves beyond the mountains of kludgy spreadsheets and bothersome configurations employed by campaigns.
Existing solutions were too labor intensive, requiring leaky text message trees and reams of paper, or repetitive digital entry followed by wrestling matches with thousands of unique event identification numbers.
“Existing form solutions were too labor intensive, leading to long delays in submitting reports”
User Research
We needed to address three user groups: volunteers, staff, and supervisors. Volunteers were being overloaded with paperwork. For staff, existing form solutions were too labor intensive, leading to long delays in submitting reports. Entire workflows were structured around the need for staff to enter unique event IDs when filing reports. Supervisors needed to quickly identify missing reports, and move between campaign subgroups in the data view: regions, organizers, teams, and towns.
Ideation
- How to remove event IDs?
- Algorithmic matching of reports and events with fast & easy fixes for incorrect matches, seldom necessary!
- How to focus on missing reports?
- Multiple ways in. Provide isolated views of missing-only, live count onscreen everywhere.
- How to make filtering easier?
- Move beyond the table for data manipulation.
- Faster event creation?
- Import from CSVs exported by other campaign tools.
- Cut down on data entry?
- Allow both staff and volunteers to submit reports. Provide pre-filled links for staff to send volunteers for their event.
Implementation
We created a mobile friendly pattern that gathered identifying information with one-button sign in from Facebook and Twitter for volunteers and staff. A responsive design allowed supervisors to leave their desk and monitor reports while mobile. Reports were matched with events on the back end based on shared characteristics, shifting away from the cumbersome, unique ID-requiring forms of other campaign solutions.