SOCIAN
911 operators often need to convey information quickly and concisely to first responders in order to resolve tense situations and save lives. Socian aims to assist operators in gathering and communicating vital information through the use of drones and AI.
bACKGROUND
We were tasked with creating a user interface that would allow Socian’s drones to convey a variety of data to the user, such as camera footage and persons of interest.
USER GROUP
The user group we targeted in this project was 911 responders who would be responsible for controlling the drone and relaying the information being communicated to them.
Interviews showed that location was a key piece of information when taking calls, which Socian provides accurately.
Contextual inquiries revealed that every equipment that dispatch officers used ran on different software.
Design ProcesS
We wanted to understand the basics of the operator experience in order to base our design around. To understand the workflow of a 911 operator, we used a variety of research methods to gain important takeaways.
"Location is the most important, because we might not know the situation but if we have the location, we are still able to send someone.”
We thought that, because they had to handle different programs, that this would be a pain point we could address, but first responders noted that they were comfortable using these interfaces together; We almost tackled an imaginary problem!
PROTOTYPING
Based on information we gathered from our interviews and contextual inquiries, alongside sponsor requirements, we developed wireframes to iterate towards our final design.
In order to draw the attention of the operator that has to manage several interfaces aside from this, cameras can show alerts if the AI sees an escalation in the situation.
USER TESTING
We explained the purpose of our application, but provided no instructions on how to use it in order to get an understanding of how someone new to the software would react to it.
They placed an emphasis on location-oriented aspects of the design, such as the map, and wondered if information regarding locations could be integrated into the camera system, like street names or landmarks.
“…most important thing for us is location, location, location. We need a way to identify the exact location, street names, & the direction people are moving. We need a cross street to identify where suspects are at.”
Telling a story:
In order to better understand the goals, hinderances, and experiences of 911 dispatchers, as well as how they would interact with our user interface, we broke down their routine into a persona and user story.
OUR SOLUTION:
Vital information must be communicated to first responders. Therefore, we decided to focus on the new information that Socian aims to bring to the table: the live video feed brought by the drones, and the AI analysis of persons and objects of interest.
DRONE INTERFACE
We give first responders as much agency as possible as the drone travels to the emergency site by allowing them to manually enable the drone’s functions prematurely.
Given the previous emphasis on location, we added overlays of street names on the camera view. AI-assisted identification, map, and drone information are displayed on the sides.
Because location is important to the responders, we also provided them an option to enlarge the map if necessary.
Design ProcesS
This project was a big eye-opener to NOT make decisions based on assumptions. If we had assumed that our users were uncomfortable with using different software, we would've been solving a problem that didn't exist.