Josiah Peoples

Designing the
Dataset Catalog

01 - Overview

Balyasny portfolio managers, sector data analysts, and data managers depend on fast, reliable access to trading data. Understanding what data is available, where it resides, and how to retrieve it efficiently is crucial. Accessing a complete dataset often requires navigating multiple sources — including CRMs, accounting systems, cloud storage, and third-party APIs. To streamline this process, Balyasny needed a solution that empowers portfolio managers and analysts to efficiently query in-house datasets and uncover insights in a one comprehensive source.

My Role
Lead Designer
Product designer
Software Developer
Figma Prototype
Minimum viable product

Year
2020 - 2023

02 - Challenge

The data team presently manages multiple separate spreadsheets that encompass information about pipeline vendors, active vendors, and other valuable metadata such as cost, descriptions, and rankings. Ideally, we aim to consolidate and centralize this data in a single location to serve the broader data intelligence team and select individuals more effectively.

Updating User Personas

A significant portion of my effort was dedicated to refining our understanding of user personas. I actively engaged in conducting multiple interviews each week. Throughout these interviews, my approach was to encourage users to guide me through their daily tasks and responsibilities. My objective was not to become an expert in their field but rather to swiftly immerse myself in their experiences, allowing me to identify pain points and cultivate a deeper sense of empathy for their needs.

Sector Data Analyst

“Make clients lives easier,with anything that deals with data”

Data Sourcing

“How can I help users find data?”

Investment Data Analyst

“How can I help users understand the data they collect?”

Goals

We established fresh objectives and guiding principles aimed at addressing a central question: "How can we optimize the delivery of the most valuable and diverse dataset collection to our users?"

Discovery

What are the most valuable datasets, and what datasets do we have available in-house?

Access

How can I access the data and how do I request a new license?

Usage

What data does my team use, who uses it, and when do they use it?

03 - Discovery

The central thread connecting these themes is time, or rather the scarcity of it. The exchange of information necessitates effective communication across various teams, and even when it operates smoothly, it consumes valuable time that could be dedicated to more pressing tasks.

Themes

Our research yielded positive results, allowing us to identify a shared workflows that effectively streamlines the data delivery process for portfolio managers.

Inventory

Internal vs. Potential: Locate datasets and associated documentation either in the pipeline or currently in active status.

Visibility

The source of truth for accounting and invoice.

Access

Recording and illustrating the locations for accessing data within the BAM infrastructure.

Status

Receive notifications regarding dataset delivery and quality assurance status.

Evaluation

Establish standardized assessments for evaluating the quality of data sourcing.

Enrichment

Deliver analytics to the dataset authoring side.

04 - Solution

Discover datasets faster than ever before as we empower you to uncover datasets and spark fresh ideas at lightning speed. Our platform lets clients explore a comprehensive range of data, revealing not only what is available but also who is in charge of it. With easy access insights, you will be well-equipped to harness the potential of this data-driven world.