context

highlights

process

reflection

river And flow

traversal

. RAFT

Help NASA hydrologists
monitor changes in river behavior

Designed & Implemented during my
2 months internship at NASA JPL.

Just a tiny bit of Context

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. THE PROBLEM

“There is absolutely no way to recognize change, shift, movement, nor timing in water propagation by looking at this excel sheet. Oh btw, this is only for one river basin.”

--- Cédric David,  329F Jet Propulsion Laboratory

. OUR SOLUTION

Transforming 800+ Lines of Complex Data into a Streamlined Dashboard.

We are going to the features section

.01

Visualizing water discharge pattern

Clear visualization on water discharge (peak height and peak location) makes it easier to catch patterns on how peaks are evolving as they go downstream

.02

Reset threshold level

Hydrologists can filter out minor peaks, or bring "possible peaks" up to surface, which helps with detecting both subtle and significant changes in water discharge.

“Possible peaks are just as important as the peaks that actually happened.”

.03

Visualizing Peak Interval

Indicating differences in peak intervals can help hydrologists understand the frequency of high flow, to predict flooding.

.04

Visualizing Water Propagation Speed

By looking at how the slope of the line change at different river reaches, hydrologists are able to tell if the water is flowing at a normal pace as it goes downstream.

Derived from Interview
‍Validated through Usability Testing

.01

Interview

After talking to the hydrologist, we were able to gain more understanding on the existing pain points & current way of interpreting data.

.02

Synthesize Findings

Information gathered from Interview sessions allowed us to define features, and draft our initial sketches

.03

Usability Testing

2 rounds of usability testings and 4 iterations in total allowed us to validate our design, then come up with 3 principles that drove the final design decisions.

Weekly Discussions

We are thankful for the opportunity to closely collaborate
with hydrologist once a week. Here's an image of me
presenting weekly design progress updates.

Usability Testings

2 Rounds of Usability Testing at Mid & High fidelity allowed
us to evaluate which type of visualization was most effective
in displaying river behavior changes.

Design System

So much to share! I’d love to get in touch with you and talk more about my process if you are interested

Weekly Discussions

We are thankful for the opportunity to closely collaborate
with hydrologist once a week. Here's an image of me
presenting weekly design progress updates.

Usability Testings

2 Rounds of Usability Testing at Mid & High fidelity allowed
us to evaluate which type of visualization was most effective
in displaying river behavior changes.

My Role & Reflections

Challenges that my team and I overcome in this project

My Role

Designed User Interface Independently from scratch

Facilitated Weekly Progress Meetings with hydrologist

Lead User Interview & Usability Testing Sessions

Duration

May 2022 - August 2022 Internship

Challenges

Understanding scientific terminologies

Faced difficulties communicating design decisions with engineers

Learning Points

Collaboration with scientists and engineers

Leading a project from research to development

Prototyping as a method of ideation

Combining UX design and Data Visualization

Upcoming

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