My role

Data analysis
Usability testing
Data visualisation

Tools

Figma
Excel
Miro

Timeline

4 weeks
Nov - Dec 2021

Type

3-person group
Student assignment
Client project

We were asked to create a series of online data visualizations to generate engagement with the Beach Patrol Scheme and highlight the importance of Birds NZ’s work.

The challenge

The Beach Patrol Scheme is organized by Birds New Zealand / Te Kāhui Mātai Manu o Aotearoa to count seabirds found on New Zealand’s beaches. This data can be used to understand changes in bird populations, migratory patterns, or other things about New Zealand’s native seabirds. However until now the data has been largely inaccessible to the public, hidden in large datasets with thousands of datapoints. Birds NZ, in conjunctions with the data analysis firm Dragonfly, wants to change that.

Our Solution

Explain the Beach Patrol Scheme using key statistics.
Illustrate the birds we’re talking about.
Show which seabirds are most common in each district of New Zealand.
Show how each bird’s population has changed from the first 30 years to the most recent 30 years.

final prototype

Visit the prototype

Key features

Explain the Beach Patrol Scheme using key statistics.

We start with these key statistics to draw readers in, show the size of the scheme, and show how much has been accomplished by the volunteers.

Illustrate the birds we're talking about.

People may not know the names of the seabirds they see at the beach, so using pictures can help viewers connect to the data and put it in the context of their own life.

Show which birds are most common in each district.

Every part of NZ's coast is located within a district, and showing the data by district can help viewers contextualize the information. It also helps highlight the differences in bird species found around the country.

Show how each bird’s count has changed over the last 60 years.

While showing the total birds found by district gives a part of the picture, understanding how those counts have changed over time is also necessary in order to understand the full picture the data contains. When we tested this visualization, our participants said that they found this view particularly intriguing.

Lessons learned

Have a single person run all tests and interviews

During this project we divided the usability tests among our group members, and we didn’t watch each other test. This ended up causing issues when we were choosing which concept to move forward with into the high-fidelity designs. For example, while participants who tested with one moderator understood the radial graph, participants who tested with another moderator did not. Since we didn’t keep testing consistent, we couldn’t know if this discrepancy was caused by the testing itself.

In the future, I would make sure that all tests are moderated by the same person, and that they’re observed by a second team member whenever possible.

Seabirds Found on NZ Beaches