Competency A

I have had the opportunity to work professionally as a UI designer and solve complicated data management problems by simplifying complex information. This piece of evidence is an example of an interface that I created for a client in the video security and surveillance field. Restaurants, convenience stores, and various types of businesses used this mobile application to monitor their stores remotely through Wi-Fi-enabled cameras. These cameras were powered by robust analytical software and had the ability to count people, identify customer traffic patterns, and customer dwelling times. Although the cameras had powerful analytics abilities, the data created by this software was very difficult to understand, especially from the perspective of a typical restaurant or business owner. In order to solve this complex information management problem, I designed a dashboard that simplified the data and allowed users to view their store’s analytics visually through graphs, heatmaps, and at-a-glance data summaries. By focusing on usability and designing from a typical user’s point of view, business owners were easily able to view their shop’s traffic patterns, peak sales times, and trends over time.

Taxonomy and classification schemes are essential to solve information management problems and enhance a system’s usability. For this project, I focused on building a taxonomy and metadata model for a digital assets management (DAM) system used by a botanical garden. The DAM system I created provided an organized digital library for photographs, graphics, and videos of the collection’s plant specimens. The system’s metadata model was inspired by fields from the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set, Darwin Core’s plant classification standards, and various video metadata elements found on operating systems like Windows and MacOS.

The taxonomy scheme for the DAM used a simplified taxonomic genus-species structure with a hierarchy of three levels deep. This shallow hierarchy allowed plants to be grouped into four main categories, followed by scientific plant families, and finally the plant’s genus level. In order to improve usability, I created an interface for the DAM that featured a dedicated predictive search bar that was accessible from all levels of the system. Users could search for all metadata types included in the DAM and receive results based on the scientific or common names of the plant species. All assets were displayed with a thumbnail of the specimen with the title of the specimen under the asset. By focusing on building a strong taxonomy scheme and metadata model, I was able to improve usability and create a simple DAM system to digitally catalog the botanical garden’s plant species.

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Discussions with my fellow classmates have helped me better understand information management problems in different industries and learn how to solve these diverse data problems. In INFM 200, we discussed the role that taxonomy and classification schemes play in improving usability and data accessibility. My post focused on my professional experience designing a hierarchical taxonomy tree for a surveillance camera management application. This application initially had a flat structure, and it was difficult for users with many cameras to navigate the system. For example, a restaurant owner might have 100 franchise or chain locations, and the application’s flat hierarchical structure made it difficult for the user to find specific cameras at certain locations. In order to solve this problem, I created a taxonomy tree that organized cameras by location, district, and finally individual stores. After applying this taxonomy scheme to the camera management application, users could easily find the cameras they were looking for. After sharing my experiences, I learned about how my classmates’ used taxonomies in their workplaces or everyday lives. Some people used taxonomies to successfully redesign websites for banks or schools, while others used taxonomies to organize files on their computers. After this discussion, I realized that there were many applications for improving information access and management through taxonomy schemes for both business and personal use.

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