Gridics' redesign: boosting user engagement and brand consistency

Gridics, a government and real estate tech startup, is dedicated to bringing transparency and accessibility to the world of zoning. Utilizing proprietary algorithms, Gridics translates complex zoning codes into user-friendly software, catering to both governmental bodies and private developers.

Cieden was engaged to deliver comprehensive product consulting services, encompassing feature prioritization, UX design, branding, and UI development. This collaboration led to the successful launch of two additional apps, the establishment of a robust product suite brand, and tangible growth in clientele, including partnerships with top-tier companies across cities such as New York.

In our UX design company, we stand out by surpassing client requirements and generating innovative ideas to enhance platforms. Our personalized approach, backed by thorough market research, ensured standout designs and a unique user experience. Our commitment to efficiency without compromising quality allowed us to meet deadlines and maintain high standards. We achieved successful results by promptly incorporating client feedback, addressing concerns, and aligning the final product with their vision. We empowered the client with diverse design concepts, facilitating informed decision-making and maximizing business growth through exceptional UX/UI design.

This project commenced with a dedicated discovery phase. Gridics had recently closed on a seed round and signed its first enterprise-level city client, the City of Miami, but still needed to find a product-market fit among private sector customers. We engaged with the client's stakeholders to grasp company objectives, gain familiarity with the existing product, understand and assess historical performance.

In our initial mission, the focus was on breathing new life into Gridics' existing apps. The challenge at hand was significant, with a staggering ~90% churn on private sector customers and a noticeable lack of app engagement from public sector city employees.

As we delved deeper, our user testing uncovered a crucial insight – city employees, when utilizing the software, could complete certain reports and analyses in half the time it took with the existing tools. This revelation underscored a critical issue: the current UX was a deterrent, dissuading employees from fully embracing and utilizing the potential efficiency offered by the software. Therefore, the UI enhancement was a transformative process aimed at bridging the gap between functionality and user experience, unlocking the true value of Gridics' offerings

It quickly became apparent that users typically gravitated towards adopting only one of Gridics' available apps. . If they used one, they didn’t use the other one (even if it was relevant to their work).

Even when the other app could be beneficial for their work, there was a noticeable lack of cross-utilization. Our working hypothesis pointed toward the divergent brand positioning of these apps, leading users to assume that the other application might not be relevant to their needs. 

Considering the company's roadmap featuring additional products, it became evident that launching more apps could increase customer confusion and potentially dilute the cohesive identity of the Gridics brand. In response to this challenge, we formulated the concept of a comprehensive suite of products, strategically designed to bolster the overarching Gridics brand identity.

Gridics identified the need to improve the entire spectrum of how urban planning and zoning are done, which would increase their total available market while also improving their penetration rate by increasing their sales opportunities. To do this, they came up with two new standalone products.