Responding to repeated customer requests and growing competition, I was able to get the Met Office’s lead scientists support to extend public facing forecasts from 5 to 7 days.

My role: As the first Product Manager for the Met Office’s public website I was often challenging long-held status quos. I was the first to bring the customer’s needs into the conversation at a 150 year old government department which meant approaching stakeholders with sensitivity but conviction. I had to champion for the user in a way no one else yet had.

Something that had been frequently requested by the general public was a 7 day forecast, because people wanted to be able to make plans for the weekend. However, the Met Office prided itself on the accuracy and respectability of its science above everything else, so when the forecast was less than 95% accurate they were unhappy releasing it. That accuracy only held out to day number 5.

Process; By listening to the scientists, and committing to upholding the integrity of their science, I was able to introduce the idea of sharing a 7 day forecast on the website. With 2 days of successful usability testing a new webpage design, I added PoP (probability of precipitation) to the webpage so the user could have a more complete understanding of the forecast, reassuring the scientists that the user didn’t expect a greater accuracy than presented.

At scale, it later tested that customers didn’t understand a 50% chance of rain meant it was just as likely to rain and it was to not rain, but that was the next UI challenge!

Outcomes: By adding 2 days to the forecast, I ensured that the Met Office remained competitive and held, then increased, their market share. All other weather forecast providers were offering 7 day forecasts, if not 10, so by engaging the scientist to understand the opportunity, I was able to keep the Met Office relevant. I was also able to create trusted collaboration between the Short-term Forecast and Digital teams which laid the foundation for future projects including extending the Mountain weather forecast and re-designing the maps for observation and forecast data.

Key Takeaway:

Responding to evolving customer needs is essential to staying relevant, and creating trust across a company can often be essential for the collaboration required to make new impact. Proving credible, quality alternatives or new designs can create the cooperation and confidence needed to launch something new and/or controversial.