Project: define and implement a clear, user-centered structure for a weather products mobile app covering global and India-specific forecasts, WRF outputs, location-based predictions, aviation modules, and live local weather — ensuring discoverability, clarity and operational readiness.
Client background & brief
WeaClim Solutions Pvt Ltd provides high-value meteorological products across global regions and India-specific sites. The goal was to help their technical team at CnEL conceptualize a structured mobile app that makes it easy for users to find region- and product-specific forecasts, request location-based predictions, and access live weather for their current location.
Challenges identified
- Large product surface: nine regions × eleven product types plus multiple forecast engines and >133 location-specific products risked confusing users without a clear structure.
- Technical team lacked a consolidated roadmap to convert content docs into a mobile UX and data model.
- Aviation forecast module and live-location features required careful UX & data design to be useful on the homepage without clutter.
- Need for scalability: add-on modules (miscellaneous customer requests) and future content must be easily pluggable.
Solution delivered by CnEL India
We provided a product-centric information architecture, a technical data model, and a phased implementation roadmap aligned to WeaClim’s content and the PowerPoint flow presented to the technical team.
High-level product structure
1. Global Forecast (9 regions)
Regions: Africa, Australia, East Asia, Eurasia, Europe, India (highlighted), North America, South America, World.
2. Eleven Product Types per Region
- Rainfall 24hrs
- Clouds 2hrs
- Low Level Convergence
- Upper Level Divergence
- Winds @ 200 hPa
- Winds @ 500 hPa
- Winds @ 700 hPa
- Winds @ 850 hPa
- Mean Sea Level Pressure
- Maximum Temperature
- Minimum Temperature
3. WRF Forecasts (Version 4.2)
Short-range WRF products (e.g., WRF 27 km) organized similarly to regional products with clear labeling (model type, resolution, valid period).
4. Location-specific Forecasts
133+ location predictions across 33 States/UTs in India plus two miscellaneous sets to support ad-hoc customer requests. These are surfaced via a searchable location index and pinned favorites.
5. Aviation Module
Designed as a separate module (launch-ready once final inputs are confirmed) with aviation-specific product filters and quick-access alerts for operators.
6. Live Local Weather
Homepage card shows current weather and a concise forecast for the user’s detected location with a one-tap path to the full product suite for that location.
Information architecture & navigation
We designed a minimal, scalable navigation that supports both discovery and repeat tasks:
- Top-level tabs: Home (live), Regions, India (expanded), Locations, WRF Models, Aviation, Search & Favorites.
- Region view: Region landing page lists the eleven products with quick-preview tiles and a date/time selector for forecast cycles.
- Product view: Time-slider, overlay controls, metadata (model, run time, validity), and sharing/export options.
- Location view: City/state forecast with quick toggles for the most-used products (rainfall, temperature, winds).
- Persistent CTA: Request custom forecast or subscribe to notifications from any product page.
Technical design & data model
We mapped the product structure to a normalized backend schema to support fast lookups and extensibility.
| Entity | Key attributes |
|---|---|
| Region | region_id, name, description, default_products |
| Product Type | product_id, name, unit, visualization_type, update_interval |
| Model Run | model_run_id, model_name (WRF/other), resolution, run_time, expiry |
| Location | location_id, name, state, coords, population_rank |
| Forecast Tile | tile_id, region_id/location_id, product_id, model_run_id, data_uri, metadata |
Tile-based data URIs allow caching and CDN distribution for heavy visual products, while metadata supports filtering, licensing and export features.
UX & visual design principles
- Clarity first: Each screen shows what product the user is looking at, model details, and validity window.
- Progressive disclosure: Show high-level maps first; allow drill-down to time-series and raw model data if the user needs it.
- Performance-aware UI: Low-bandwidth visual representations and option to defer high-resolution tiles.
- Actionability: Quick-share, favorite, subscribe and request-custom-forecast CTAs accessible in one tap.
Phased implementation & recommended milestones
- Phase 1 — Foundation (Weeks 1–3): Regions + India landing pages, product tiles, basic location search, live-home card.
- Phase 2 — Model & WRF Integration (Weeks 4–6): WRF 4.2 outputs, model-run selector, caching strategy, and data URIs.
- Phase 3 — Location Forecasts & Favorites (Weeks 7–9): 133+ India locations, search/favorites, export PDF/email feature.
- Phase 4 — Aviation & Misc Modules (Weeks 10–12): Aviation-specific UX and miscellaneous customer-request pipelines.
- Phase 5 — QA & Launch (Weeks 13–14): UAT, performance testing, documentation, and production rollout.
This timeline is illustrative; final schedule will be confirmed after a quick discovery sprint and access to sample data & the PowerPoint flow shared by WeaClim.
Testing, quality & operations
- End-to-end QA using representative data sets for each region and product type.
- Load testing for tile endpoints and CDN configuration.
- Acceptance tests with WeaClim’s technical stakeholders including the aviation module reviewers.
- Monitoring & alerts for data freshness, model run failures and API errors.
Why CnEL India is the best team for this project
- Product-thinking + engineering: We translate domain documents into clear product structures and implementation-ready technical designs.
- Weather & data experience: Proven track record integrating model outputs and building performant map/tile UIs.
- Scalable architecture: Emphasis on cacheable tiles, CDN-friendly URIs, and a normalized data model to support 100s of products.
- Collaborative delivery: Sandbox demos, technical walkthroughs, and hands-on support to bring confidence to internal teams.
- Future-ready: Modular design allows adding client-specific miscellaneous sets, advanced analytics, and subscription features without rewrites.
Favourable client review
“Thank you — the roadmap CnEL India presented clarified a path from our product documents to an implementable mobile app structure. The team’s practical layout for regions, product tiles and location forecasts made the technical work straightforward. Their focus on a sandbox-first approach and clear milestones gave our internal team confidence. We look forward to launching the app with this structure.”
— Raman, WeaClim Solutions Pvt Ltd
Recommended next steps
- Run a 3–5 day discovery sprint with WeaClim stakeholders to validate product priorities and confirm data sources for each product type.
- Provide sample model output files and the PowerPoint flow referenced so CnEL India can build demo data for the sandbox.
- Approve Phase 1 scope and sandbox provisioning so the team can deliver the first interactive prototypes.