Jenny Ho




Making property data approachable at Archipelago


Improving access to social services at Healthify


Personal projects

Archipelago



Setting up integrations
Research, product design, data visualization, UX writing



The challenge: Archipelago is a platform that centralizes data for insuring trillions of dollars of property. While we have construction and occupancy data covered, there's still a lot we don’t have in-house expertise on, like climate change predictions, natural disaster tracking, and tailored engineering recommendations.

The solution: What if we built integrations with other trusted software companies in the industry? We can give users a more complete view of their portfolio by adding new building resiliency data.

My role: I conducted research with product and business development stakeholders, led the design, held design reviews with PMs, and did QA with engineers. For a few weeks, I mentored a mid-level designer.

Impact: We ended up piloting 2 integrations with 35 customers. Our users saved time (anywhere from a few hours to a few days) preparing a portfolio for the insurance market.

These pilots with smaller companies set us up for partnerships with names like Origami, Unqork, Verisk, CoreLogic, and PwC later on.


What do users want?

To find out which integrations to build first, we needed to know what kind of data would be most helpful. I worked with the product strategist, product manager, sales director, and head of account management to sell the concept of integrations to customers.

We presented slides pitching hypothetical new features on customer calls, and we sent out follow-up surveys. I contributed a few ideas for these potential features and created mockups so customers see their value (as opposed to long blocks of text).

Hypothetical features that users would be excited about.
Manage integrations yourself or through product support.
Predict climate change risk.
Compare building valuations with market rates.
Track climate and weather perils.
Auto-populate missing building data.
See sources and timestamps on an enhanced portfolio.
Import and export data through Tableau.
Building valuations (dark green) was the top pick.


Future-proof the MVP.

My design process was to start more complicated, scrap what we didn’t need, and re-introduce scrapped features as needed. The PM and engineers appreciated this method, since it’d future-proof the feature while reducing the technical complexity.

What got cut
  • Support multiple integrations. We might have a scenario where a partner company has multiple integrations.
  • Self-service functionality so users can run an integration whenever they want.
  • Provide advanced customization settings for users to choose the exact properties and data they want.

What we can do
  • Build for one integration at a time.
  • A white glove approach where Archipelago admins set everything up. Customers don’t see these screens.
  • Limit customization options.

Determining scope and user flows for future scenarios.
Mapping how new data types fit into Archipelago's data models.
Wireframes got simpler as we cut scope.
Wireframes of the first integration.


Save time estimating building valuations.

Our first integration imports building valuation data into Archipelago. Users can compare their own values to market standards, so they are better prepared for price negotiations. 

1. The account manager enables integrations for a customer.
2. Go to the portfolio.

3. Run the integration.
4. When it's done, see the results.
5. Check how your portfolio's value compares to the market.
6. Review specific properties for red flags.
We showed several brokers a prototype, and they were thrilled!

“Manually, it’s done by location, and it takes even longer — every one takes 10 minutes. When you have several hundred portfolios, that’s a ton... If we had this, automated and in this format right now, it would save us at least six to eight hours per account.”

— Broker at Gallagher


Fill in essential property data with a few clicks. 

Months later, we had a second partnership: we can fill in missing COPE data, as long as there’s a valid address. We added back cut items from before (such as the ability to choose an integration)

1. As an MVP, all integrations have the same usage limit.
2. Choose the integration.
3. Run it.
4. See results when it's done.
5. QA new data before publishing.
6. See updated property details.
Our most frequent use case was owners acquiring new properties. They’d typically fill 50% of blank data per property with a few clicks. This saves them 2-3 days compared to manual research.

“We can be really, really bare sometimes. So the prefill could be very helpful, even if it's just for short term. Sometimes we've got things in there we know nothing about.”

— Acquisitions Lead at Blackstone


How do we explain API limits to users?

One ongoing challenge was describing API limits to users, since integration partners have their own usage rules.

A technical writer and I made API limits easier to understand by emphasizing more on impact (how many properties and data points) and less on transactions. We made sure to use industry-standard terminology while keeping language simple.

On the UX side, I added a history page to track usage.

Get an estimate of your credits before running an integration.
See the actual cost afterwards.

View usage history.

Post-script

We planned to add natural disaster tracking by summer 2023, so customers can get ahead of hurricane season. However, this was cut short by layoffs.

As of August 2023, Archipelago had 10 more partners and 3 new data types in the pipeline: natural disaster tracking, climate change, and fire protection & manufacturing recommendations. 

By 2025, we added integrations with Origami, Unqork, Verisk, CoreLogic, and PwC.