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Version 7.1 by Rosa Van Tuijn on 2025/07/08 11:22
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1 = 1. Introduction =
2
3 //<include a short summary of the claims to be tested, i.e., the effects of the functions in a specfic use case>//
4
5 The goal of this test was to understand what type of information would support each role at different levels (strategic, tactical, operational) in performing their tasks, particularly in decision-making. We focused mainly on the tactical and operational levels.
6
7 = 2. Method =
8
9 For each technology, a separate questionnaire was prepared. In total, five distinct questionnaires were created in Survalyzer. All the questionnaires included the same types of questions:
10
11 1. **General Open Questions**: Firstly, the participants were asked how they thought data could be helpful and how it should be visualized to be useful.
12 1. **Information Needs**: Next, the questions focused on the different information needs of tactical and operational roles, asking participants which data they would want and need for their roles.
13 1. **Visualization Examples**: Lastly, various examples of data visualizations were shown to get an indication of which role would want to see what type of data visualization. The examples included basic traffic lights, raw data, aggregated data, predictions, and advice. See appendix B for all the designs that have been made.
14
15 == 2.1 Participants ==
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17 A total of 12 partners completed questionnaires during the field test in Athens. The health questionnaire was filled out by 5 partners, the communication questionnaire by 2 partners, and the location questionnaire by 4 participants. Although a questionnaire for the gas sensors (also by WEARIN’) was prepared, we decided not to focus on it in Athens since the gas sensor was not used during the exercises. The questionnaires were completed by individuals in various roles, including researchers, drone pilots, paramedics, incident commanders, chief SAR, and firefighters.
18
19 == 2.2 Experimental design ==
20
21 The study used a role-based, exploratory design to assess how different types of sensor data (health, communication, location) support decision-making at tactical and operational levels. Five tailored questionnaires were developed, each focusing on a specific technology. The design emphasized gathering qualitative insights through open-ended questions and evaluating visualization preferences using example formats. An example of the question that were asked can be found below. The table below shows the start questions of every questionnaire:
22
23 |(% colspan="2" %)Participant information
24 |Q: What type of partner are you?|(((
25 Answer options:
26
27 * First responder (USAR)
28 * First responder Team Lead (USAR)
29 * First responder Paramedic (USAR)
30 * Firefighter
31 * Firefighter Team Lead
32 * Tech partner
33 * Other:
34 )))
35
36 The questionnaire for the WEARIN’ body sensor data is detailed in the table below. It also shows the interface sketches that were made for this technology. The sketches for the other design can be found in: [[a. Prototype CFT1: Data visualization examples>>doc:3\. Evaluation.a\. Prototype.WebHome]].
37
38 |(% colspan="2" %)WEARIN’ health data
39 |Q: What types of health data do you think helps determines the status of a First responder?|Open answer
40 |Q: Which data should have the highest priority? (and how should it be communicated?)|Open answer
41 |Q: How is health data currently communicated within an USAR operation?|Open answer
42 |Q: How can we display health data in a helpful manner?|Open answer
43 |(% colspan="2" %)(((
44
45
46 |
47 | |[[image:1751972821005-693.png]]
48
49 This visualization that is presented during the next two questions.
50 Visual description: What types of medical data do you think is useful for people at the USAR Basecamp (tactical), and what kind of data is useful for people that work in the field (operational)?
51 )))
52 |Q: What medical data would be useful for the people at USAR basecamp? (tactical)|Open answer
53 |Q: What medical data would be useful for the people at the operational worksite? (operational)|Open answer
54 |(% colspan="2" %)(((
55 [[image:1751972821009-634.png]]
56 This visualization is presented during the next ten questions.
57
58
59 Visual description: We have selected these roles that could benefit from seeing medical data, divided again in tactical and operational roles. What type of information should each role see according to you? And why?
60 )))
61 |Q: How important is seeing medical data to the Team Lead role? (Tactical)|Likert scale
62 |Q: Why? What type of information would be relevant?|Open answer
63 |Q: How important is seeing medical data to the Medical staff? (Tactical)|Likert scale
64 |Q: Why? What type of information would be relevant?|Open answer
65 |Q: How important is seeing medical data to the Squad leader role? (Operational)|Likert scale
66 |Q: Why? What type of information would be relevant?|Open answer
67 |Q: How important is seeing medical data to the Paramedic? (Operational)|Likert scale
68 |Why? What type of information would be relevant?|Open answer
69 |Q: How important is seeing medical data to the First responder itself? (Operational)|Likert scale
70 |Q: Why? What type of information would be relevant?|Open answer
71 |(% colspan="2" %)(((
72
73
74 |
75 | |[[image:1751972821011-457.png]]
76
77 This visualization is presented during the next questions.
78 Visualization description: Which roles do you think might also need some type of access to medical information? Why?
79 )))
80 |Q: Fill in which other roles could be relevant and why|Open answer
81 |(% colspan="2" %)(((
82
83
84 | | | |
85 | |[[image:1751972821013-625.png]]| |[[image:1751972821015-169.png]]
86
87 These visualizations is presented during the next ten questions.
88 Visualization description: We have created sketches of possibilities to display the health data. The first screen shows the health status of all teams, while the second screen is zoomed in on one team and its members. How important is it to see these screens for the following roles?
89 )))
90 |Q: How important is the first screen for the Team Lead?|Likert scale
91 |Q: How important is the first screen for the Medical Staff?|Likert scale
92 |Q: How important is the first screen for the Squad leader?|Likert scale
93 |Q: How important is the first screen for the Paramedic?|Likert scale
94 |Q: How important is the first screen for the First Responder itself?|Likert scale
95 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Team Lead?|Likert scale
96 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Medical Staff?|Likert scale
97 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Squad leader?|Likert scale
98 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Paramedic?|Likert scale
99 |Q: How important is the second screen for the First Responder itself?|Likert scale
100 |(% colspan="2" %)(((
101
102
103 |
104 | |[[image:1751972821015-618.png]]
105
106 This visualization is presented during the next seven questions.
107 Visualization description: This screen shows a **summarized status view** of the medical data. The square with the cross icon shows the current status of the first responder and can turn green to indicate that the status is good and can turn orange to indicate that the status is not good. An alert can also be presented with the red triangle, this indicates an upcoming (predicted) or a large change in status.
108 )))
109 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Team Lead?|Likert scale
110 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Medical Staff?|Likert scale
111 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Squad leader?|Likert scale
112 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Paramedic?|Likert scale
113 |Q: How important is this screen for the First Responder itself?|Likert scale
114 |Q: Do you think this is a good way to display the status of a first responder? Why or why not?|Open answer
115 |Q: Is there something missing from this view?|Open answer
116 |(% colspan="2" %)(((
117
118
119 |
120 | |[[image:1751972821016-346.png]]
121
122 This visualization is presented during the next questions.
123 Visualization description: This screen shows **detailed raw health data** of different team members. It shows it both in a graphs as in data points.
124 )))
125 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Team Lead?|Likert scale
126 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Medical Staff?|Likert scale
127 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Squad leader?|Likert scale
128 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Paramedic?|Likert scale
129 |Q: How important is this screen for the First Responder itself?|Likert scale
130 |Q: Do you think this is a good way to display the status of a first responder? Why or why not?|Open answer
131 |Q: Is there something missing from this view?|Open answer
132 |(% colspan="2" %)(((
133
134
135 |
136 | |[[image:1751972821017-499.png]]
137
138 This visualization is presented during the next questions.
139 Visualization description: This screen shows **Aggregated health data** of different team members, combined in a way to show.
140 )))
141 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Team Lead?|Likert scale
142 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Medical Staff?|Likert scale
143 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Squad leader?|Likert scale
144 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Paramedic?|Likert scale
145 |Q: How important is this screen for the First Responder itself?|Likert scale
146 |Q: Do you think this is a good way to display the status of a first responder? Why or why not?|Open answer
147 |Q: Is there something missing from this view?|Open answer
148 |(% colspan="2" %)(((
149
150
151 |
152 | |[[image:1751972821017-270.png]]
153
154 This visualization is presented during the next questions.
155 Visualization description: This screen shows **Predicted health data** of the possible future health status of team members, including advice about future actions that should be taken to keep the First Responders safe.
156 )))
157 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Team Lead?|Likert scale
158 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Medical Staff?|Likert scale
159 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Squad leader?|Likert scale
160 |Q: How important is the second screen for the Paramedic?|Likert scale
161 |Q: How important is this screen for the First Responder itself?|Likert scale
162 |Q: Do you think this is a good way to display the predictions about the first responder's health? Why or why not?|Open answer
163 |Q: What do you think of this advice function, does it explain enough? What else would you want to know when making a decision?|Open answer
164
165 == 2.3 Tasks ==
166
167 Participants were asked to:
168
169 * Describe how sensor data could support their role.
170 * Identify specific data needs relevant to their operational or tactical responsibilities.
171 * Evaluate various visualization formats (e.g., traffic lights, raw data, predictions).
172 * Provide feedback on the clarity and usefulness of each visualization type.
173
174 == 2.4 Measures ==
175
176 The study measured:
177
178 * **Perceived usefulness** of different data types (e.g., heart rate, GPS).
179 * **Role-specific data needs**, categorized by tactical, and operational levels.
180 * **Visualization preferences**, including simplicity, detail, and trust in predictive models.
181 * **Qualitative feedback** on visualization examples and their applicability in field scenarios.
182
183 == 2.5 Procedure ==
184
185 During the field test in Greece:
186
187 1. Participants were briefed on the goal of the study.
188 1. Each participant received a questionnaire about one of the technologies that they could fill in with their role in mind.
189 1. They completed the questionnaire individually, providing both structured and open-ended responses.
190 1. During the questionnaire they could ask questions to the researchers for extra clarity.
191 1. Visualization examples were shown to elicit preferences and feedback.
192 1. Responses were collected and analyzed to identify patterns across roles and technologies.
193
194 == 2.6 Material ==
195
196 * **Five questionnaires made** created in Survalyzer and presented on a tablet.
197 * **Visualization examples** included traffic light indicators, raw and aggregated data, predictive analytics, and advisory outputs.
198
199 = 3. Results =
200
201 **Health data**
202
203 Types of health data: heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature, blood pressure, and mental health were frequently mentioned as essential.
204
205 Reasoning given for roles
206
207 * Team Lead - Important for monitoring the overall safety of teams.
208 * Medical Personnel - Essential for making critical decisions.
209 * Paramedic (Operational) - Necessary for directly treating team members.
210 * First Responder - Relevant for personal health and well-being.
211
212 Highlight: Health data is essential for a wide range of roles, but the requirements vary greatly. Medical personnel and paramedics request detailed and contextual data, while team leaders and first responders value summaries and simple alerts more. Transparency in predictive models is necessary to build trust.
213
214
215 **Location data**
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217 Types of Location data: Location data such as GPS coordinates, building heights, and paths to victims were frequently mentioned.
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219 Reasoning given for roles
220
221 * Team Lead - Essential for team coordination.
222 * Squad leader (Operational) - Necessary for instructing team members.
223 * First Responder - Helps with orientation and finding victims.
224
225 Highlight: Location data plays a crucial role in both tactical and operational decisions. Tactical team leaders want aggregated and sector-based data, while operational roles such as squad leaders and first responders need detailed and real-time information. 3D maps and interactive elements are valuable tools to improve navigation and coordination.
226
227
228 **Communication data**
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230 Types of communication data: Respondents emphasized the importance of RSSI (signal strength), signal speed, and interference detection.
231
232 Reasoning given for roles
233
234 * Team Lead - Important for monitoring team connectivity.
235 * IT Specialist - Crucial for troubleshooting.
236 * Squad leader (Operational) - Relevant for field communication.
237 * First Responder - Only needed for personal connectivity.
238
239 Highlight: Communication plays a central role at all levels of USAR operations. Tactical users need extensive analyses to monitor team status, while operational roles such as IT specialists focus on technical troubleshooting. Advisory functions and visual simplicity could contribute to effectiveness in the field.
240
241 = 4. Discussion =
242
243 The study highlights the importance of tailoring sensor data visualization to user roles. Tactical users benefit from aggregated, strategic overviews, while operational users require detailed, real-time data. Visualization design must balance simplicity with informativeness, and predictive models must be transparent to build trust. These insights can guide future development of adaptive interfaces for USAR operations.
244
245 = 5. Conclusions =
246
247 The field test demonstrated that sensor data—when tailored to user roles and operational contexts—can significantly enhance decision-making in USAR operations. However, the type, granularity, and presentation of data must align with the specific needs of tactical and operational users.
248
249 * **Health data** is universally valued but interpreted differently across roles. Medical personnel and paramedics require detailed, contextual information to make clinical decisions, while team leaders and first responders benefit more from simplified summaries and alerts. Trust in predictive health models hinges on transparency and clarity.
250 * **Location data** is essential for both coordination and navigation. Tactical users prefer aggregated, sector-based overviews to manage teams, whereas operational users such as squad leaders and first responders need real-time, detailed data to orient themselves and locate victims. Tools like 3D maps and interactive visualizations are especially helpful.
251 * **Communication data** supports both strategic oversight and technical troubleshooting. Tactical roles benefit from system-wide connectivity insights, while operational roles focus on individual and team-level communication. Simplicity in visualization and advisory features can improve usability and effectiveness in the field.
252
253 Overall, the study underscores the importance of **role-specific data visualization** and the need for **adaptive interfaces** that balance detail with usability. Future developments should prioritize **clarity, trust, and contextual relevance** to ensure sensor data truly supports the diverse needs of USAR personnel.