Sample Manager™
Streamlining water compliance by uniting tasks, schedules, and sites into one simple platform.
Role
Product Designer
Team members
Julia Doyle- Product Manager
Cameron Grundy- Design Manager
Project Stage
Live
Project Type
Web App
Tools
Figma, Confluence, Claude.ai, Miro
UPDATE!
This product now is in full release and is available for purchase by Water Quality Management of State Governments. Hence new feedback from customers is yet to be implemented on this project.
Link to full release product page on 120Water Audit- https://120water.com/sample-manager/
setting the scene
Drinking water in the U.S. is regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, which requires regular testing for contaminants. These tests happen at multiple sites and involve coordination between utilities, labs, and state agencies. Compliance software helps track these requirements and keep the process organized. Sample Manager™ is such software.
This is how it is done right now. Currently Water Utilities just a take a print out of a PDF and manually file it.
Further context
Water utilities must meet strict drinking water testing schedules to remain compliant. As mentioned, many still rely on spreadsheets and emails, increasing the risk of missed deadlines. Missed tests can lead to fines, public distrust, and health risks.
The Phase 0 release (What I am working on) of 120Water’s Sample Manager™ introduces a centralized platform for managing regulated drinking water testing. It streamlined tasks, schedules, and site information to help utilities, agencies, and laboratories maintain compliance with ease.
"What" am I solving here?
To understand the problem, I reviewed real spreadsheets used by water utilities. These static, manual tools made it hard to track tests, deadlines, and responsibilities. I realized this wasn’t just a data problem—it was a coordination and presentation problem.
“I need to know if we’re on track before a problem arises — not just after it’s too late.”
“We’re out in the field most days. Having a concise calendar and directions saves us so much time.”
Interviews
Interviews with experts and utility stakeholders revealed key pain points—fragmented workflows, limited visibility, and compliance pressures—shaping personas, journeys, and feature priorities.
Market Analysis
Tools like SDWIS and Aquatic Informatics are outdated and hard to use—showing clear gaps and a need for better digital solutions.
Systems Audits, and Policy Reviews
We reviewed SDWA, LCR, and public RFPs to shape features like auto-scheduling, sample tracking, and compliance reporting.
We are designing for: coordinators who plan and report, and field ops and lab staff who collect samples. Their day-to-day challenges shaped how the tools were built.
Oversee water testing programs, assign and track tasks, coordinate with labs, and ensure results are reported on time.
Collect, process, and analyze water samples, needing clear schedules and simple tools to record and share results.
Little more on the "Who"
This is me digging in... Through interviews, market research, and policy reviews. analyzed outdated systems, highlighted gaps, and connected real tasks to real user struggles—all to build a foundation rooted in their everyday reality.
So what did we learn and derive?
Research and interviews showed coordinators need visibility and compliance oversight, while field staff need simple, guided tools. Combined with market gaps, this led to UX expectations below.
WHat do the users need?
Multiple task and requirement views – Table, calendar, timeline, and map formats for monitoring requirements and tasks.
Role-specific dashboards – Overview widgets showing upcoming, overdue, and assigned tasks.
Interactive site management – Ability to view, add, and manage facilities and sampling points, including on a map.
User management – Role-based permissions and account controls for admins.
Change/audit logs – Read-only history of all edits for transparency and compliance.
initial thoughts
A little rough but this is how I pictured the dashboard to potentially look like.
Now we are starting to make some sense... But how did we get here?
Early dashboard iterations ranged from cluttered and overwhelming to overly sparse, before evolving into a more structured design with roll-ups and data tables. Each step revealed that users needed less raw data and more clear, actionable insights upfront.
Initial Iterations of a testing schedule.
This iteration tested a step-by-step scheduling flow where users selected a month, analyte, test, and then viewed details. While structured, it introduced too many steps, wasn’t scalable for multiple analytes or tests, and ultimately created more friction than clarity.
Timeline view iterations
The timeline iteration explored a timeline view to track monitoring requirements across months. Although structured, unclear color coding and poor use of space made it difficult for users to interpret statuses at a glance.
Evolving from chaos- Final Designs
Dashboard- The central hub of Sample Manager™
The Sample Manager™ dashboard gives a real-time snapshot of compliance tasks, showing upcoming deadlines, overdue items, and overall task status. Admins can track workloads across users, while operators see only their own assignments—ensuring everyone knows what’s on track and what needs attention.
Tasks- A module for all things needed to meet your monitoring requirements
The Tasks section centralizes all sampling activities, with auto-generated or manual tasks that can be tracked in calendar, table, or map views. Each task is assigned, status-driven, and ensures compliance work is completed on time.
A place to view your monitoring requirements and all surrounding details
Monitoring Requirements outline what contaminants must be tested, at which sites, and on what schedule. In Sample Manager, they generate sampling periods and tasks, shown in table, timeline, and map views to give managers clear visibility and control.
A visual view of the progress against your monitoring requirements
The Monitoring Requirements Timeline shows testing schedules across months, quarters, or years in a Gantt-style view. Color-coded periods highlight what’s complete, upcoming, or overdue, with drill-down access to related tasks.
Map view allowing users to view progress of their monitoring requirements per-facility
The Monitoring Requirement Map plots facilities and sampling points, showing each site’s tasks and compliance status. It helps managers plan field work and spot patterns in water quality across the service area.
Analyte Details- A view of an individual analyte and all surrounding details, including associated monitoring requirements, sampling information, and metadata.
The Analyte Details Page provides a focused view of required testing for a specific contaminant at a given site. It shows current, past, and upcoming monitoring periods with task counts by status, giving managers a clear picture of testing history and what’s still needed for compliance.
A dual-sided view allowing users to view their monitoring information through the lens of a schedule, both at an individual tasks level, or a higher up monitoring period-level
The Sampling Schedule and Calendar display all tasks by day, week, or month, making it easy to plan and track sampling activities over time. Tasks appear with their due dates, assignees, and status, while overdue items are highlighted—ensuring deadlines are visible and nothing is overlooked.
The full experience
To view the full experience the Figma file is below.