Behind the Scenes: ZIMS Modernization is underway!

In early December, we announced that ZIMS would undergo a modernization effort. The first question that probably comes to most members’ minds is, “Why are we doing this?” Today there are standardized, newer technologies that will help to make our software engineering team more productive at delivering rebuilt and new features in ZIMS.

Currently, ZIMS does a great job meeting our members’ needs, but we believe it can be made much more user-friendly. To help with that, we have brought in a User Experience (UX) expert to focus on making ZIMS more user-centric. Improved UX will include streamlined workflows, intuitive functionality, and mobile compatibility where it makes sense.

The initiative began in earnest at the beginning of 2023, and the early stages of an effort like this can be broken into three main focus areas.

1. Community Feedback: This begins with community input, and we are talking with members to create a vision for ZIMS that will better meet today’s user needs and grow with our community. If you would like to be involved in helping to shape the future of ZIMS, please register your interest here.
2. The Way We Work: We are dedicating resources and talents to build new solutions in ZIMS while maintaining and enhancing current ones.
3. Technology Decisions: We are making use of the latest technologies and establishing newer proficiencies across our engineering team.

Upgrading ZIMS to use newer technologies is a significant investment in the future of our organization and the members we serve. By prioritizing the user experience and involving UX designers, we are creating a more intuitive, elegant, and functional platform. With our technology choices, we are enhancing the platform’s value and ensuring that it is highly available, scalable, and secure, as well as ensuring new development is made more efficient through the use of modern web development patterns and frameworks.

We are excited to start sharing specific features in future newsletters and directly with members as we get closer to releasing them. So, expect to see continued updates.

Clint Pidlubny is Director of Technology, Species360.