1. Introduction

<include a short summary of the claims to be tested, i.e., the effects of the functions in a specfic use case>

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.

2. Method

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:

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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

2.1 Participants

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.

2.2 Experimental design

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: 

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. 

WEARIN’ health data
Q: What types of health data do you think helps determines the status of a First responder?	Open answer
Q: Which data should have the highest priority? (and how should it be communicated?)	Open answer
Q: How is health data currently communicated within an USAR operation?	Open answer
Q: How can we display health data in a helpful manner?	Open answer
This visualization that is presented during the next two questions. 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)?
Q: What medical data would be useful for the people at USAR basecamp? (tactical)	Open answer
Q: What medical data would be useful for the people at the operational worksite? (operational)	Open answer
This visualization is presented during the next ten questions. 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?
Q: How important is seeing medical data to the Team Lead role? (Tactical)	Likert scale
Q: Why? What type of information would be relevant?	Open answer
Q: How important is seeing medical data to the Medical staff? (Tactical)	Likert scale
Q: Why? What type of information would be relevant?	Open answer
Q: How important is seeing medical data to the Squad leader role? (Operational)	Likert scale
Q: Why? What type of information would be relevant?	Open answer
Q: How important is seeing medical data to the Paramedic? (Operational)	Likert scale
Why? What type of information would be relevant?	Open answer
Q: How important is seeing medical data to the First responder itself? (Operational)	Likert scale
Q: Why? What type of information would be relevant?	Open answer
This visualization is presented during the next questions. Visualization description: Which roles do you think might also need some type of access to medical information? Why?
Q: Fill in which other roles could be relevant and why	Open answer
These visualizations is presented during the next ten questions. 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?
Q: How important is the first screen for the Team Lead?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the first screen for the Medical Staff?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the first screen for the Squad leader?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the first screen for the Paramedic?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the first screen for the First Responder itself?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the second screen for the Team Lead?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the second screen for the Medical Staff?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the second screen for the Squad leader?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the second screen for the Paramedic?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the second screen for the First Responder itself?	Likert scale
This visualization is presented during the next seven questions. 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.
Q: How important is the second screen for the Team Lead?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the second screen for the Medical Staff?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the second screen for the Squad leader?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the second screen for the Paramedic?	Likert scale
Q: How important is this screen for the First Responder itself?	Likert scale
Q: Do you think this is a good way to display the status of a first responder? Why or why not?	Open answer
Q: Is there something missing from this view?	Open answer
This visualization is presented during the next questions. Visualization description: This screen shows detailed raw health data of different team members. It shows it both in a graphs as in data points.
Q: How important is the second screen for the Team Lead?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the second screen for the Medical Staff?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the second screen for the Squad leader?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the second screen for the Paramedic?	Likert scale
Q: How important is this screen for the First Responder itself?	Likert scale
Q: Do you think this is a good way to display the status of a first responder? Why or why not?	Open answer
Q: Is there something missing from this view?	Open answer
This visualization is presented during the next questions. Visualization description: This screen shows Aggregated health data of different team members, combined in a way to show.
Q: How important is the second screen for the Team Lead?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the second screen for the Medical Staff?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the second screen for the Squad leader?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the second screen for the Paramedic?	Likert scale
Q: How important is this screen for the First Responder itself?	Likert scale
Q: Do you think this is a good way to display the status of a first responder? Why or why not?	Open answer
Q: Is there something missing from this view?	Open answer
This visualization is presented during the next questions. 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.
Q: How important is the second screen for the Team Lead?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the second screen for the Medical Staff?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the second screen for the Squad leader?	Likert scale
Q: How important is the second screen for the Paramedic?	Likert scale
Q: How important is this screen for the First Responder itself?	Likert scale
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
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

2.3 Tasks

Participants were asked to:

• Describe how sensor data could support their role.
• Identify specific data needs relevant to their operational or tactical responsibilities.
• Evaluate various visualization formats (e.g., traffic lights, raw data, predictions).
• Provide feedback on the clarity and usefulness of each visualization type.

2.4 Measures

The study measured:

• Perceived usefulness of different data types (e.g., heart rate, GPS).
• Role-specific data needs, categorized by tactical, and operational levels.
• Visualization preferences, including simplicity, detail, and trust in predictive models.
• Qualitative feedback on visualization examples and their applicability in field scenarios.

2.5 Procedure

During the field test in Greece:

1. Participants were briefed on the goal of the study.
2. Each participant received a questionnaire about one of the technologies that they could fill in with their role in mind.
3. They completed the questionnaire individually, providing both structured and open-ended responses.
4. During the questionnaire they could ask questions to the researchers for extra clarity. 
5. Visualization examples were shown to elicit preferences and feedback.
6. Responses were collected and analyzed to identify patterns across roles and technologies.

2.6 Material

• Five questionnaires made created in Survalyzer and presented on a tablet.
• Visualization examples included traffic light indicators, raw and aggregated data, predictive analytics, and advisory outputs.

3. Results

Health data

Types of health data: heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature, blood pressure, and mental health were frequently mentioned as essential.

Reasoning given for roles

• Team Lead - Important for monitoring the overall safety of teams.
• Medical Personnel - Essential for making critical decisions.
• Paramedic (Operational) - Necessary for directly treating team members.
• First Responder - Relevant for personal health and well-being.

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.

Location data

Types of Location data: Location data such as GPS coordinates, building heights, and paths to victims were frequently mentioned.

Reasoning given for roles

• Team Lead - Essential for team coordination.
• Squad leader (Operational) - Necessary for instructing team members.
• First Responder - Helps with orientation and finding victims.

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.

Communication data

Types of communication data: Respondents emphasized the importance of RSSI (signal strength), signal speed, and interference detection.

Reasoning given for roles

• Team Lead - Important for monitoring team connectivity.
• IT Specialist - Crucial for troubleshooting.
• Squad leader (Operational) - Relevant for field communication.
• First Responder - Only needed for personal connectivity.

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.

4. Discussion

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.

5. Conclusions

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.

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

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.