The Goal

Since 2013, in the National Capital Region, volunteers for the Montgomery County, MD Community Emergency Response Team (MCCERT) have been providing situation reports (SitReps) during natural hazards that impact the D.C. area (e.g., snow storms, tornadoes, severe thunderstorms). Recently, MCCERT has partially partially automated this process using google forms and plotting the data on google maps

To Enhance and automate the SitRep Process without making the process too complicated for volunteers, we designed a new system to streamline the data submission for volunteers (submitters) and real-time monitoring of submissions for admin.

Approach

We conducted user research, ideation, design, prototyping and evaluation with using four or five-week “Design Sprint”. During the project, we conducted three of five iterations of this four-week sprints. Former team members ran first two iterations in Fall 2021.

Sprint 1 - 2 (Former team)

First two sprints were focused on understanding the problems and opportunity to develop the shared knowledge, set the initial approach and design concept, and validate the ideas through preliminary evaluation.

Survey

The former team members conducted the initial user survey and received 64 responses to set the focus and directions for Submitter view of SitRep form.

Expert Interviews

The former team conducted 4 expert interviews to set the focus for Admin view monitoring and analyzing the collected SitRep responses.

• The collected data is exported as Excel spreadsheet to analyze the data and find some meaningful insights.

• Plotting the location on a map based on the zip code is important, however, it is very hard to do with current inputs.

• “Many SitReps submitted by one person will show a heavy concentration of SitReps in one area which could skew the data”

Prototype

Sprint 3

Ideation

With new team members, we set a focus for Sprint 3 as “Acclimate new team to client and project details to continue development of a high level design concept for a tool enhancing automation of Situation Reports”.

Based on the results of survey and expert interviews conducted in previous Sprints, we set new focuses on both views.

• Submitter View for SitRep Submission

  • Personalized email link to open submission form without login process

  • Easier way to share the exact location

• Admin View for Monitoring SitRep Responses

  • Map view with zip code plotting for main overview page

  • Separate tab for archiving outlier data

Product Structure

Sketch

Prototype

We used the “Ant Design” System for the design but have created several custom components.

Testing

We conducted 3 user testing sessions for submitter view and 2 user testing sessions for admin view.

Key findings and potential design changes were following:

• (Submitter) All users liked personalized link to SitRep form and no-login process.

• (Admin) Map view would zoom in on a particular area to get the precise location of where the SitReps are getting reported from.

• (Admin) Map view should be the main focus on the dashboard page.

Reflection

My main focus on this Sprint was designing Submitter view for SitRep Submission with using existing design system (Ant Design). Using the existing design system can improve the consistency between two different views for this project. Also, it was very efficient to design the prototype.

Sprint 4

Ideation

For Sprint 4, we set a goal of helping the MCCERT Admin manage and communicate with volunteers in real time and enhance the Admin’s analysis process.

In order to achieve this goal, we focused on designing Admin view for this system. Specifically, we designed new flows for “volunteer management” to improve the process of managing and communicating with volunteers.

• New overview dashboard with improved map view

  • Map would be the main focus on the overview page

• Volunteer management pages

  • Admins can manage volunteers profile in one centralized system (currently, managing volunteers and monitoring SitReps are in different systems; SitRep responses should be exported manually, and volunteer profiles are separated from the SitRep system)

We conducted competitive analysis to find a great approach for the volunteer management system because this is a new focus for this sprint.

Sketch

Prototype

We designed interactive map-focused overview dashboard. Detailed information is available with mouse hovering interaction. Also, admins are able to see the exact location of each submission by zooming in on the map.

We also designed volunteer management pages. Admins can invite new volunteers by sending an invitation message to create account, view the individual profile, and manage the volunteer status (active, inactive, deactivate).

Testing

We conducted 3 user testing sessions with CERT admins in other cities or counties to get more insights about SitRep overview and volunteer management flow.

Key findings and potential design changes were following:

• Some information on a map should be highlighted to make easily detectable (i.e. red color for no power) / should be prioritize showing on the dashboard without going to another page.

• Users needed clearer visual cues for updates and changes appear on the interactive dashboard.

• Map view on the dashboard has some minor design changes (i.e. move the precipitation bar and time record closer to the filters)

• Users liked the highlighted items on volunteer profile page (i.e. CPR badge)

• Users would like to know the difference between “inactivate” and “deactivate” on updating volunteer status

Reflection

My main focus for this sprint was improving overview page with interactive map view. I got a lot of opinions from team members how to improve the usability. I learned a lot from team collaborations, especially, when sharing different thoughts, it was helpful for me to elaborate my ideas more clearly.

Sprint 5

Ideation

Our focus on Sprint 5 was refining the existing Admin prototype and deliver finalized design concepts. Main points to improve were about the overview dashboard and minor design components.

• Visual cues on dashboard for updates and changes appear on the interactive dashboard by using icons or animations.

• Information to prioritize without further actions

• More realistic map overlay on the dashboard

• Different visualization for popup card or list on a side bar

Prototype

We updated map overlay to be more realistic with different outlines. Also, the components on the dashboard such as event information card, filters, and time control panel have different shape in order to make it look floating on the map. Also, we updated a list view of each zip code summary or individual submission on the right highlight panel with summarized information and icons.

Testing

We completed 4 more rounds of user testing with admins from Montgomery County CERT and other CERT teams.

• The updated filter design and time slider was more intuitive for users

• Updated side panel provided quick insights into the most important information during a weather event.

• The concept of a one-stop shop for MCCERT Situation Reporting and volunteer management allows admins to quickly manage and analyze data in real time through automation

Future Recommendation

• Design a broad CERT SitRep system that can expand across cities and counties.

• Explore using a map view to see the volunteer distribution for inclusivity.

• Create user flow for Generated Reports, Messages, and Event Creation.

Reflection

With last three sprints, I learned a lot about designing the prototype with using Design system. This can improve the consistency across the entire project and also improve the efficiency for designing. With diverse perspectives from many different team members, I can improve my perspectives and I learned a lot when I tried to explain my design rationale. Also, by leading many user testing sessions and taking notes on sessions, I learned many skills how to lead the testing sessions especially how to ask questions back to the participants.

Special Tanks to Steve, Dr. Lutters, Ashleigh, Brandon, Esther, Tori, and former team members