NASA

A visual tool for temperature data plots to enhance decision-making during spaceflight

Contributions

Concept Ideation
User Research
Wireframing
Prototyping
Usability Testing

Role

UI/UX Designer

Timeline

2 months

The Problem

Scientists and mission engineers need a tool a visualize critical rover temperatures within data plots so that they can efficiently investigate the root cause and respond accordingly.

The Solution

To tackle this problem, we came up with data plot limits to provide a visual tool that could communicate to our users when the rover is approaching a temperature extreme.

01

Background

NASA wants to send a mobile robot to the moon to search for water sources so that we can better understand how we can harvest the moon’s resources for future human space exploration

02

Context

OpenMCT is an open source data visualization framework used for data analysis of spacecraft missions. The software was designed to meet the evolving need to access data from multiple sources spanning multiple locations. OpenMCT allows scientists and engineers to interact directly with data collected by the rover.

03

Problem

Currently, NASA scientists and engineers are receiving rover temperature warnings when the rover is already at a dangerous limit. This gives our users very limited time to course correct before the rover begins to malfunction.

04

Why is this problem important?

Our stakeholders and investors have invested millions of dollars in support of space exploration research. If users lack the necessary tools that they need to respond effectively to the rover, there is a good chance that they could make an ill-informed decision, which can lead to a mission failure.

05

User Research

At the start of the project, I lacked technical understanding of the rover and how it functioned. To help me bridge the knowledge gap and investigate on how OpenMCT is used as a tool to help scientists and engineers monitor rover data, we dove into an intensive 2 week research sprint where we conducted 8 user interviews with various stakeholders. This helped us hone in on our users' wants, needs, and expectations for the plot limits feature.

Based on data that we collected from our user interviews, we put together an affinity map to summarize our findings on how our users generally felt about the current user experience of data plots within OpenMCT:
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06

Design Solution

We came up with several visual tools for OpenMCT's temperature data plots to help scientists and engineers:
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Red plot lines indicate critical temperature limits and yellow plot lines indicate temperature limits that need to be monitored closely
Solid plot lines indicate an upper limit while dashed plot lines indicate a lower limit
Plot limit labels include Plot Name, Temperature Value, and Upper/Lower Limit Indicator
Option to show/hide plot limit lines
Specified data points to indicate abnormal temperature activity

07

Design Feedback

After some insightful feedback on the initial design solution, our users expressed concerns around the plot limit labels being a potential distraction when it appears at all times. User also brought up some specific scenarios that could occur while working with this feature, which prompted us to come up with additional design solutions to address supplementary user needs.

08

Design Iterations

After going back to the drawing board, we came up with some effective solutions to help users recognize that they are in a zoomed in state when viewing a data plot, a responsive version of the plot limits design for adding to plot displays, and a way to visually communicate temperature range around a plot limit.

A gradient that appears around a plot limit line indicates a specific temperature range and an orange border accompanied by a warning icon signify to users that they are in a zoomed-in state

09

Usability Testing

We sat down with the same 8 individuals that we interviewed during the research phase and had them complete 3 tasks using our clickable prototype. The test gave us insights on the user experience of the feature, allowed us to observe user behavior, and gave us the opportunity to collect additional feedback.

10

Outomes

The addition of the plot limit lines feature improved users' response to abnormal temperature activity by 100%. Users were able to detect temperature anomalies within data plots in under a minute whereas before, they did not have this ability.
Users were able to quickly make the connection between a plot limit and the graph it belongs to in under 10 seconds by referring to the plot limit labels.
Users were able to detect the exact timepoint of abnormal temperature activity in under 30 seconds

11

Challenges

Navigating technical ambiguity and my initial gap in knowledge about rover mechanics was a steep learning curve, but fascinating nevertheless
Balancing diverse stakeholder needs and prioritizing various user requirements
Adapting to evolving user needs during the project without delaying the project timeline

12

Takeaways

By providing a visual representation of temperature extremes, scientists and engineers can quickly take action when the rover approaches a temperature limit and make informed decisions. This design solution improved user satisfaction and engagement with data plots using OpenMCT.
This project highlighted the significance of user research and the importance of comprehending technical requirements in order to effectively design a feature for technical stakeholders.
This project also challenged me to learn how to prioritize between various requests by different stakeholders