United States Geological Survey (USGS)

Before you read...

Due to multiple NDAs associated with this role, I am limited to sharing high level information only. Specific details and visual assets cannot be shown publicly.

Stepping Outside the Comfort Zone

In December 2023, my manager at Dynamo asked if I had capacity to take on a new design project. They mentioned this one would be very different from the work I had been doing and would be a good opportunity to gain experience outside of the US Forest Service ecosystem. I agreed, and in hindsight, I am extremely grateful that I did. The lessons from this project reshaped how I think about UX design for complex systems.

Learning the Domain From Scratch

At the start, I did not know what USGS was or what they actually did. My first step was educating myself on their mission and the type of work their hydrologists perform. This gave me just enough context to begin meaningful conversations.

The team consisted of three Dynamo developers, one Scrum Master, and myself as the UX designer, along with two USGS stakeholders. From the beginning, those stakeholders stood out as exceptional collaborators.

Defining the Unified Field Application

During our first stakeholder meeting, they clearly explained the goal of the project. USGS wanted to consolidate several outdated field applications into a single Unified Field Application, referred to as the UFA. The first phase focused on replicating and improving the functionality of SVMAC, a legacy tool hydrologists use in the field to perform tests and collect data.

Beyond that, the application needed to support user profiles, task and activity tracking, and management of upcoming and ongoing field trips. The scope was massive, and this was my first time designing a full application rather than a website. Many of my familiar patterns from previous projects were no longer applicable, forcing me to rethink my approach entirely.

Choosing the Right Design System

Given the application focused nature of the project, I turned to Material Design. While I had some familiarity with it, this was my first time designing deeply within that system. The Material Design library for Figma provided a comprehensive set of components, layout patterns, typography, and interaction guidance that fit the needs of a data heavy field application.

Finding this system was a turning point. It gave me confidence that I had the right tools to manage the complexity of the UFA.

Laying the Foundation

The stakeholders provided existing USGS branding, which allowed me to move quickly without inventing a new visual identity. Using Material Design components with minimal color, I focused on layout and structure in low fidelity mockups.

I spent about a week exploring layouts and flows before presenting to the stakeholders. During that presentation, I learned something invaluable. Both stakeholders had previously been hydrologists themselves and had firsthand experience using SVMAC in the field. They understood the pain points deeply and were also highly tech savvy, which made feedback incredibly productive.

We aligned on a key principle early. Once logged in, users should immediately be able to complete their tasks. Hydrologists might be working in forests, rivers, or boats, so clarity and speed were critical.

Designing Field Workflows

With the landing experience aligned, I moved into designing the core activities users would complete in the field. These included taking readings with specialized equipment, inspecting sensors, and recording sensor data. What initially sounded straightforward quickly became complex.

There were nine different sensor types, each requiring a distinct workflow. Stakeholders identified which sensors were required for the first release, and we focused our efforts there. They walked me through existing SVMAC workflows step by step and provided screenshots of each process. They also highlighted pain points, which allowed me to design improved workflows rather than simply recreating the old ones.

Over the next month and a half, we worked closely to iterate on these workflows through low fidelity mockups and reviews.

Reimagining Groundwater Level Activities

Another major requirement was the Groundwater Levels activity. In SVMAC, this was a single long and untracked process that left users unsure of progress or completion.

In the UFA, we redesigned this activity into clear sub activities with visual indicators showing progress, completion, and errors. Once all sub activities were completed, the entire activity visually updated to reflect completion. This dramatically improved clarity and confidence for users. Finalizing this workflow took another month of close collaboration with stakeholders.

Bringing the Application to Life

Transitioning to high fidelity mockups was challenging due to limited real data. I relied heavily on screenshots from SVMAC and stakeholder walkthroughs to simulate realistic content. Applying USGS branding was straightforward, and Material Design made global updates efficient.

The resulting high fidelity mockups clearly demonstrated how far the application had evolved in just a few months. Because the screens were laid out sequentially to reflect user actions, a formal prototype was not necessary. Stakeholders approved the designs, and I handed them off to development.

A Highly Efficient Collaboration Rhythm

While developers worked on implementation, I partnered with stakeholders to design additional required features, including field station information pages and user profiles. We adopted Mural as a shared feedback tool, using screenshots and sticky notes to differentiate between actionable feedback and internal brainstorming.

This workflow significantly reduced the need for meetings and allowed us to move faster without sacrificing clarity.

Launch and Beyond

After development wrapped up, I delivered final approved designs for the remaining pages. The first launch of the UFA went smoothly, and we celebrated with the stakeholders. Feedback from both users and stakeholders was overwhelmingly positive. They were thrilled to finally have a modern tool built specifically for their needs.

Post launch, we continued planning enhancements such as extreme sensor readings, verification workflows, and collimation tests, ensuring the product had a clear path forward.

Key Learnings

Designing applications requires a fundamentally different mindset than designing websites, especially when workflows and data density drive the experience.
Deep stakeholder collaboration, especially with former users, leads to better solutions than assumptions ever could.
Choosing the right design system early can drastically reduce complexity and increase confidence on large projects.
Low fidelity iteration is essential when designing complex workflows, as it allows fast validation without costly rework.
Efficient feedback tools like Mural can replace meetings and dramatically improve team velocity when used well.
UX success is strongest when users feel the product was built specifically for them, not adapted from something else.