Overview
Problem
How might we create an interactive earth observatory tool enabling ecologists, conservationists, and policymakers to effectively monitor wetlands, assess their ecological functions, and make data-driven decisions for conservation and restoration efforts?
When assessing pre-existing competitors, our team found interactive tools with access to various datasets regarding the ecological landscape of a specified region, but had poor user interfaces, detracting from the overall user experience. We struggled to understand datasets with unclear descriptions, polygon layers that were difficult to interpret when layered over a basemap, and limited information within certain regions.
We sought to create a user-friendly and well designed tool that incorporated elements that would be useful for a variety of ecological needs.
Project Goals:
• Provide an intuitive user experience for environmental experts to easily navigate and extract insights from the wetlands researched data.
• Incorporate interactive features like map overlays and data layers for a comprehensive understanding of wetland functions.
• Develop a well-functioning and cohesive prototype that could be presented to stakeholders and members of the NSF when appealing for additional project funding.
Research
Interviews
Affinity Diagramming
To synthesize the information gathered during interviews, we used affinity diagramming, helping us to categorize the diverse range of insights and identify patterns within the data. Through this process, we identified the importance of a simple and intuitive user interface and the demand for customizable tools that work across different scales. This process helped shape our design direction and prioritize features that would address the users’ pain points.
Users/Personas
We developed the following personas based on our research to better represent the primary users interacting with the tool:
These personas helped us design user flows that catered to their specific goals and needs, such as data accessibility and ease of use. We continually referred to these personas during the design process to ensure the tool's features were aligned with the users' requirements.
Wireframing
Prototyping and Iterations
Iteration 1 - Initial Development:
When beginning to develop our wireframes, we worked with our science and user research teams to identify the key features that need to be included in our product. The first step was to create a set of low fidelity wireframes.
We received feedback that the general organization of information in these two low-fidelity wireframes were good, and chose to finalize the following organizational choices when moving forward:
・Keeping the tool bar at the top.
・Combining layer selection, data, and information in one consolidated panel, located on the left instead of the right.
Iteration 2 - Mid-Fidelity Designs
In the next iteration, we began incorporating images of the Snoqualmie Basin developed by our geomorphology and geomorphologist teams, as well as specific layer names and tools provided by our Science team. From a design standpoint, we incorporated elements of the project’s pre-developed style tile into our wireframes, including the logo, colors, and fonts. We additionally sought to improve the overarching user experience during this iteration through the addition of a welcome message.
Upon sharing these frames with our team, we received overwhelming positive feedback, with the majority of feedback focusing on the next steps to take to move further towards our end goal.
Feedback:
・Focus on the three highest priority layers when developing future iterations
・Add novel science functions to reflect emerging user priorities (ex. Flooding Probability, Fish Habitat, Carbon Sequestration Potential)
・Prompt users to upload their own region of interest
Iteration 3 - Prototyping
Our next iteration was developed concurrently with our Round 3 user interviews conducted by the UXR team, where they sought to propose functionalities of the product to potential users, including our wireframes. The UXR team requested us to create interactive prototypes for this stage, which we did through leveraging Figma’s prototyping features and variables. During this stage, we worked extensively with our GIS developer to acquire all of the images that we needed. We needed 2 images for 9 different data layers, one of the entire region and one zoomed in, incorporating 18 total images into our prototype at this stage.
By this point of our design process, the overall look of our prototype was finalized. We mainly continued redeveloping the prototyping interactions in this stage and debugging our interactions between different frames.
Final Prototype
After 4 months of work on this project, we developed a comprehensive prototype that showcases all of our observed user needs in a user-friendly format.
Takeaways
UX design is diverse
This project was one of my first experiences in developing a non-mobile prototype. The projects I had developed in my coursework and extracurriculars had all sought to develop some form of a mobile application, but for Tealwaters, I was exclusively tasked with creating a non-desktop web prototype. I learned about how UX design isn’t just needed strictly within the technology, but within any digital application. The unique background of this project taught me how I can apply the same UX strategies that I employed to develop mobile prototypes in my class projects within a wetland mapping system.
Working within an interdisciplinary team
The team behind Tealwaters was immensely diverse, and I had the opportunity to work one-on-one with forest scientists, GIS specialists, project managers, and software developers. I was able to truly understand the value of each person’s skillsets within the project and strengthened my ability to work within diverse teams like this one.
Confidence in my decisions
As an intern from a non-ecology background, I initially felt as if I didn’t have the jurisdiction to make decisions or propose change. As I understood the value of the diverse backgrounds of the rest of my team, my managers showed me the equal importance of my role. There were no other UX professionals on this project besides my two co-interns and I, and I learned how to advocate for my design decisions and have confidence in my work as a member of this team.