Internal Sources

Client Materials | Client Systems

Client Materials

Throughout the course of the project, we utilized a number of documents from our client that drove our final decisions and were used as a basis for our work redesign. They were a constant reminder of their current process and the types of work that was vital for us to support.

Briefing Books

Briefing books are the documents that are used to report on important issues when each of the departments meet with the CitiStat Panel. They include descriptions of hot topics for the meeting as well as the graphs that are used to demonstrate possible danger flags. We made a point of reviewing all of the 24 historical briefing books for the Department of Public Works to see the number and types of graphs created. This became essential to understanding what was necessary to support in our redesign.

Excel Templates

The CitiStat teams utilizes Microsoft Excel spreadsheets as a mechanism to report and track the city's data. The template file is given to the Department of Public Works to be filled out with the newest data at a specified time each month. CitiStat analysts use this completed template to create the graphs, charts, and material for the briefing books.

Financial Report

Although it does not include any graphs or detailed information about how the process works behind the scenes, our client gave us an example of their financial report. It is important in the overall process because of the tables that are included. Our client produces these tables based on the information collected in the CitiStat Templates, and supporting table viewing and copying became a paramount as our project progressed.

Client Systems

Foreman System

Pittsburgh's Department of Public Works utilizes a system called the "Foreman System" to track its performance on a day to day basis. Built by Accela, the Foreman System includes information that ranges from labor hours, to the number of vehicles available, to the amount of salt used in winter. It can be a powerful system that DPW uses to help them fill out the CitiStat templates each month. Therefore, we too dove into the workings of the Foreman System in an attempt to automatically pull the data that we need from it.

ArcView

Pittsburgh's GIS analyst uses a system called ArcView to show complaints and work done visually on a mapping system. It is a complicated, but powerful system that takes quite a bit of time to understand. Although considered, this type of visualization was not included in the final scope of our project and additional information was unnecessary.

ArcView Screen Shot

Example Use of an ArcView Map

MapStat

Based on ArcIMS, MapStat is a web-based alternative to ArcView. Adapted primarily for police work it takes data from multiple sources and presents it in a unified view. It's pre-canned queries provide for a mechanism for reporting and examining Excel documents. Although MapStat is still in the late stages of development, the way in which people referred to MapStat was important for understanding what things are useful in their work environment. Implementation of the system is contracted to Ascent Systems.