COASST is an organization that's part of U.Washington's marine biology department. This group conducts research on the impact marine debris has on beaches along the west. Collecting valid data requires hiring licensed volunteers (mainly retired educated folks) identifying marine debris as well as dead birds. The study helps scientists learn about how much debris lands of the beaches, where it possibly came from and its impact on the environment.

The current process is very tedious. The 'data collector' inputs all of their findings on a chart with very specific fields. This information is inputted into the COASST website either by an intern or the the data collector themselves.

Then a COASST scientists goes onto the site and filters through the data and validates the information provided by the data collector.

Because the process is so tedious and important, the Data Entry site needs an improvement in its usability.

Data Entry site consisted of an outdated experience and usability.

To improve the UX, I had to come up with the solution using several steps.

1. Understand the current site. To improve the usability, my team and I had to understand who the main users are and map out the current user flow.

2. Recreate the existing site in a wire-flow to visualize the pages and steps involved at the same time.

3. Now seeing the big picture and the details, we began white boarding ideas on where certain pain-points exist, filter out unnecessary content and incorporate important content and features.

Main Page

This is the first page the users come across when after logging onto the site. The admin has several choices to make. They can add a new survey, access more specific information in ‘Administrator’ page, Edit unreviewed surveys based on Regions and edit their own personal information. Currently, their site is a bit confusing and there’s no way a new admin can understand where to go.

We are going to see what happens once we click on ‘+ Add Newt Survey’.

Step 1

Users begin with Step 1:Who?. Here the volunteers add themselves as the data collectors as well as other participants to the survey. Having steps towards to top is a really helpful element in terms of giving users awarness of where they are and what's next to come.

Step 2

At Step 2: When? the users need to input the time and date of their survey. My team and I iterated on improving the layout of some of the buttons as well as interactive elements such as inputting the survey date.

Step 3

At Step 3: Beach? the users input which beach they were conducting surveys for and what they encountered during the survey. When the users clicks on ‘yes’ for any of the items listed, a drop down appears prompting the use with more detailed questions.

Step 4

At Step 4: Birds. this is the last step in the survey process. After inputting any found debris, the users are will also need to input found birds. Since the survey is conducted to supply valuable data to marine biologists, having bird specimens is just as crucial to the survey. This portion of the survey is very long and it asks users for very detailed information on the birds.