CASE STUDIES > MRWA
The Maine Rural Water Association (MRWA) is a federally and state-funded nonprofit that supports small water utilities in Maine and sought a way to help them view and analyze their data.
In 2019, the Maine Rural Water Association (MRWA) approached Big Room Technologies with a problem: MRWA knew it was sitting on a ton of valuable data from water utilities over the years—data that offers insights into logistical next steps, such as the rate at which a system’s infrastructure should be replaced and the commensurate impact of those upgrades on the utility cost to customers.
Large utilities have the benefit of paid staff to help perform these calculations and make assessments, but making said data and indicators more accessible democratizes the knowledge and resources so that smaller utilities can benefit from the data without such resources. Valuable information indeed, but how do you visualize such dense, specialized data in an intuitive, easy-to-use way?
THE PROBLEM
The SOLUTION
The final product is a public web app with robust filtering and comparison tools for exploring historical data and trends.
Launched ahead of schedule and budget, it currently includes three years of data from 41 water systems, with plans to expand to 150. The platform requires no login, supports shareable URLs, offers clear explanations for accessibility, and allows easy CSV exports for deeper analysis.
The approach
We were given a technical manual of operational and financial indicators, access to MRWA managers who were both enthusiastic and passionate, and dove into this project as if we were being trained for jobs at MRWA. After initial discovery conversations, both teams agreed that the number of unknowns around user experience and workflow, coupled with the scope of the data made MRWA an ideal candidate for Application Planning.
We worked with MRWA’s core team to design wireframes, write technical specifications, outline a project timeline with cost estimates, and outline an implementation approach complete with team roles and a glossary of project nomenclature. MRWA was so pleased with the application planning phase, that they decided to move forward with development at Big Room Technologies.
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