Streamlining Trails Management
To maintain these trails, field crews frequently assess and inventory trail conditions. However, the data collected was inconsistent, difficult to act on, and was rarely synced to the national database, fragmenting data quality across regions.
THE CLIFF NOTES
CHALLENGE
We were tasked with solving three main challenges:
- Data collection varied across regions, leading to inconsistent data
- Users found current tools cumbersome and irrelevant to their data needs out in the field
- Data was rarely entered into the administrative database, making it unavailable to leadership for decision-making
solution
We leveraged ESRI's suite of geospatial tools to create:
- An agency, partner organization, and public mobile survey that streamlines data collection
- A dataloading mechanism that synchronizes collected data to the national database
- A webmap & dashboards that allows users to quickly access collected data spatially
MY ROLE
As Design Lead, I was responsible for shaping the overall design strategy and ensuring a user-centered approach throughout the project. My key responsibilities included:
- Leadership & Strategy
- User Research
- Design Execution & Usability Testing
- Collaboration & Mentorship
The full story
Research
We conducted interviews with 24 users across the country, including field crews, regional managers, and agency partners.
What We Learned
- The legacy system is difficult to use and users find the data collected irrelevant to their needs
- Inconsistent collection methods combined with a lack of quality assurance undermine users' trust in the data
- Seasonal staff with high turnover rates leave little time for learning a system that requires extensive training to master
- Users are often conducting surveys in remote locations with no internet connectivity
- Most data collected is not currently being loaded into the national database because it is a manual and time consuming task
Opportunity Areas
- Design a more intuitive, user-friendly interface, ensuring ease of navigation and minimal training requirements
- Tailor the solution to the needs and workflows of field users to better align their goals with management objectives
- Develop a standardized workflow for data collection across all regional areas to improve data quality
- Address fieldwork needs by prioritizing a mobile-first solution with offline functionality
- Automate data synch of field collected data into the agency's administrative database
Survey Design
We tested two Survey123 prototypes, combining the top performing elements of both—Version A’s structure and Version B’s logical flow—into a final design.
We then deployed the final design to a field crew for real-world testing, leading to key updates:
- Added photo annotation
- Implemented conditional logic to simplify data entry
- Optimized colors for readability in sunlight
This iterative process resolved user frustrations while meeting management’s data needs.
Webmap Design
We identified that field crews needed quick visual references, while managers required high-level overviews and detailed insights. Using ArcGIS Online’s out-of-the-box tools, we created web maps and refined them through usability testing by:
- Adding custom symbology for clarity and accessibility
- Implementing layer toggles to reduce clutter
- Designing intuitive legends and interactive features for detailed trail data
This approach combined AGOL’s functionality with tailored design, delivering an intuitive, scalable solution for trail management.
Final Solution
- A unified trails survey for agency, volunteer, and partner users that enables data collection with or without connectivity
- A webmap to view collected data in real time
- A backend data loading mechanism that allows seamless synchronization to the system of record after management review
20,000+ features logged
in the first six months, an increase of 20% compared to the previous year end reporting
95% satisfaction rate
Users are recognizing the survey's value and practicality with almost universal positive praise from the field
Over 2,000 miles
of trails were surveyed in first months of deployment
“This is the best thing to come out of the [agency] in my career. Using it gives me the confidence that I am doing this right. [The new survey] removes the burden from the field."
