With growing access to mobility data, supply chain organizations have unprecedented opportunities to streamline the movement of goods through urban corridors. This data holds the potential to optimize routes, reduce congestion, and enhance overall supply chain efficiency. As a public steward of mobility data, the Government of Canada is actively seeking ways to make this information accessible to industry players, aiming to strengthen Canada’s supply chain infrastructure.
Background and Context
The Transportation Economic Analysis (TEA) group at Transport Canada recognized the potential of mobility data to enhance Canada’s supply chain but faced challenges in translating this data into practical tools for industry. Early efforts to make the data accessible fell short due to limited expertise in human-centered design, product management, and technology. Seeking an accessible solution, TEA engaged our team to co-develop a strategic product roadmap and design a user-centric approach. This collaboration led to an innovative solution, providing supply chain organizations with actionable insights to drive efficiency and resilience across Canada’s transportation network.
Challenges
An early prototype had taken over a year to develop and resulted in low accessibility and usability scores. A few early challenges we needed to address included:
1. Making Data User-Friendly
Transforming complex mobility data into an accessible, user-friendly format posed a significant challenge, as previous approaches lacked a focus on human-centered design.
2. Defining a Clear Product Vision
Without strong product management practices, TEA struggled to align data capabilities with industry needs, making a structured roadmap essential for guiding development.
3. Integrating Advanced Technology
Delivering real-time, actionable insights required complex technology that TEA hadn’t used before, necessitating innovative solutions for large-scale data processing and visualization.
Solution
Our initial user research gave us insights into a range of possible solutions that could contribute to a more accessible product. We worked with the client to define a strategy, scope, and roadmap that enabled them to achieve their objectives, resulting in:
- User-Centered Data Design We applied human-centered design to make mobility data intuitive, creating user-focused visuals and interfaces to meet supply chain needs.
- Clear Product Roadmap A structured roadmap was developed to align data capabilities with industry needs, guiding TEA in prioritizing high-impact features.
- EGIS for Platform Development We selected EGIS as the best platform for Urban Mobility, leveraging its data processing and visualization strengths to deliver real-time insights and support data-driven supply chain decisions.
Their expertise in human-centered design and product strategy brought our vision to life, creating a platform that is both user-friendly and powerful for supply chain planning.
– Manager, Transport Canada
Benefits and Outcomes
Our efforts resulted in an industry-standard solution and the development of a product management practice around the Urban Mobility unit within Transport Canada. Management recognized the following outcomes:
1. Improved Operational Efficiency
With a clear roadmap, TEA could prioritize impactful features, streamlining operations and ensuring that the platform met the immediate needs of supply chain organizations.
2. Real-Time Data Insights
Leveraging EGIS’s advanced capabilities, the platform is now poised to provide real-time, actionable insights, enabling organizations to optimize routes, reduce congestion, and strengthen Canada’s supply chain resilience.
3. Record-Breaking Release Cycles
We helped set up an Agile product development practice that enables TEA to continuously improve and develop new features to address emerging user needs.
We couldn’t be more pleased with the results, as they’ve set a new standard for how we support industry partners in strengthening Canada’s supply chain. ”
– Manager, Transport Canada
