Business intelligence,
made legible
Datalogz helps teams collect, process, and visualize data to make decisions, but the app's own usability was working against it. I joined as founding designer and redesigned navigation, dashboards, and onboarding end to end.
The tools, dashboards, reports, and visualizations, were capable. Real usability problems just stood between users and the value underneath.
I joined as founding designer and owned the redesign end to end: streamlined navigation, clearer data visualization and reporting, an onboarding flow for new users, and a documented visual design system the team could build on after I moved on. Following the redesign, Datalogz raised $2.3M in seed funding after successful pilots with Fortune 500 companies.
Powerful data,
buried under friction
A BI tool is only as good as how fast someone gets from question to answer. Datalogz had the data. Getting to it was the problem.
Navigation got in the way
- Reports and dashboards were hard to locate
- Common tasks took more steps than they needed to
- New users got lost before finding any value
Visualization overwhelmed instead of clarified
- Charts and reports weren't scannable at a glance
- No clear hierarchy between key metrics and supporting detail
- Finding the insight took more work than the analysis itself
No path for new users
- No onboarding, straight into a dense interface
- Every feature learned by trial and error
- A steep learning curve slowed adoption
Goals
- Streamline navigation so relevant data is a few clicks away
- Simplify data visualization for quick, accurate reads
- Build onboarding that shortens time to first insight
- Build in feedback loops for continuous improvement
Research
- Competitive analysis showed where BI tools clarify versus clutter
- Users wanted the story a dataset tells, not just the raw chart
- A confusing first session was the biggest churn risk
- Fast iteration mattered more than one polished concept
Strategy into
interface
Dashboard & reporting redesign
Clear hierarchy between headline metrics and supporting detail, so a dashboard answers the question before someone has to dig for it.
Guided
onboarding flow
A first-run flow that walks a new user to their first real chart, so the product proves its value before it explains itself.
Design system
& UI kit
An Inter-based type scale, component library, and documented interaction states, handed off so engineering could keep building without design drift.
“Throughout the project, Saiful showed incredible dedication, creativity, and attention to detail. His ability to iterate quickly and effectively was truly impressive. Despite the many changes and iterations, Saiful always kept the end goal in mind, creating a product that was intuitive, user-friendly, and efficient. Their deep understanding of user experience principles and industry best practices was evident in every aspect of the application. Furthermore, Saiful’s communication skills were exceptional.”
- A dashboard's job is to lead with the answer, not the raw numbers
- Fast iteration cycles beat one heavily polished concept
- Founding-designer work means owning decisions end to end, with no handoff to lean on
- A documented design system pays off the moment a team scales past one designer
Conclusion
A BI tool people worked around became one that worked for them: clearer navigation, dashboards that lead with the insight, and an onboarding flow that gets new users to their first useful chart fast. Datalogz raised $2.3M in seed funding following successful pilots with Fortune 500 companies.
