Business context
The Tropical Cyclone (TC) team is moving from a regional TC 3-Day Outlook to a new national TC 7-Day Outlook product. The TC team plans to introduce a new visualisation of Tropical Lows (TL) before they form into tropical cyclones. The new product will be available as an interactive map on the new Bureau website.
I was engaged to design this product using the new Bureau design system components, and to create a clickable prototype to test the proposed design with the intended users of this product.
Research method and key activities
1. Design the TC 7-Day Outlook web page and PDF product.
2. Understand the usability for the designed product by interviewing and surveying intended users.
3. 17 face-to-face research interviews to test the prototype of the TC 7-Day Outlook web page.
4. Analyse the research findings and synthesise them into insights that will inform the development of this product.
5. Update the prototype with findings.
Research participants
5 public users sources from the Bom Ideas database
12 existing customer sourced from E&R, Defense, NFES, QFES and DFES
Project deliverables
Project timeline
Start: November 2020
End: February 2021
Overall findings
The prototype was generally well received, with participants finding value in the product, since it shows the movement of tropical lows and the likelihood of forming into a tropical cyclone.
Depictions of tropical lows was easily understood.
Naming e.g. 06U on the TL shapes need to be explained in the map legend.
There is an expectation to read the commentary of a TL shape on the map.
Playing forward in time is a very useful feature.
Advanced TL shapes were understood and a welcome addition for existing customers.
Outlook commentary is a good start and should be improved further by making it more public-friendly.
Map settings were not easy to find.
Map legend content was understood.
Navigating between pages was not a problem.
The FC track map warning product would benefit from an update.
Filters are preferred over accordions.
‘Currently no tropical cyclones’ is clear to understand but additional information would make it much clearer.
A list of additional requests had been made for the map, commentary and the TC track map warning.
