Kansas City Southern

KCR’s internal PowerBI dashboards were originally built for executive reviews but had grown disjointed and hard to use. Tabs were overloaded, naming conventions were inconsistent, and no formal guidance existed for dashboard creators. I was brought in to create a scalable system that aligned with how different departments actually used the tool.

Through stakeholder interviews, hands-on audits, and UX best practices, I built a flexible design system, documented it for internal teams, and introduced a repeatable structure that reduced confusion and made dashboards easier to build, navigate, and trust.

 Audience

  • Primary: Donors, researchers, nonprofit supporters (avg. age 40+)

  • Secondary: Space-curious new visitors

 My Role

UX/UI Designer (solo) – full-cycle ownership of research, design, testing, and implementation

 Timeline

4 months (2022)

 Tools Used

PowerBI, Sketch/XD/AxureRP, Notion, Zoom, InDesign

The Problem

KCR’s internal dashboard system was originally built for executive review meetings, but lacked cohesion and scalability.

Core issues included:

  • Over-reliance on tab-switching during review sessions

  • Inconsistent layouts, naming, and visualization logic

  • Disconnected understanding of how dashboards were used across departments

  • No shared documentation for new dashboard creators

  • “Power Users” lacked guidance, and training was informal and ad-hoc

 Project Goals

  • Streamline stakeholder review flow by unifying dashboard patterns
  • Establish visual + structural consistency for easier cross-team interpretation
  • Empower internal “Power Users” with best practices and layout templates
  • Reduce technical dependency for dashboard creation
  • Create a scalable governance model to avoid future sprawl

Design Process

1. Research & Discovery

  • Conducted interviews across org layers (yard staff, analysts, executives)
  • Mapped dashboard usage during weekly Monday ops meetings
  • Identified cross-department inconsistencies in structure, vocabulary, and KPI definitions

2. Dashboard Audit

  • Reviewed existing dashboards for UX violations: poor tab naming, unclear filters, redundant KPIs
  • Tracked visual inconsistencies and interface friction points across teams
  • Evaluated review session flow to reduce context switching

3.Template & System Design

  • Built PowerBI layout templates to standardize visual hierarchy and filter placement
  • Designed in-dashboard navigation using bookmarks (vs. tab overload)
  • Created flexible role-specific views tailored to user type (exec vs. field vs. analyst)

4. Governance & Documentation

  • Authored a Notion-based PowerBI design guide:
    • Visualization do’s and don’ts
    • Dashboard naming conventions
    • Navigation bookmarks and drill-through best practices
  • Formalized a “Power User” enablement model to decentralize dashboard ownership and encourage sustainable growth

🚂💨 Outcome & Impact

🔗Figma Link

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