Users have the option of logging food through audio, photo and timestamps. Then, edit them later on mobile.
One-touch logging derives statistically probable data using context clues and pattern recognition.
Public visibility into permits issued by my team's suite of applications was provided through a search widget on an EPA dashboard that was scheduled to sunset at year's end. At its core, the dashboard was ingenious—capable of providing a customizable feed of environmental information from any number of EPA data streams. It was envisioned as a one-stop shop for local environmental data. For example, if you wanted to know what permits were obtained for the gas station up the road or the chlorine handling at your local pool, this dashboard could be used to get answers for the general public. However, three years out, only a handful of EPA programs opted to develop widgets for the dashboard and its cost efficiency had fallen into question.
With less than a month until the drop-dead date, the client asked if I could be pulled onto the project after prior teams had failed to reach consensus on a design.
Aside from the existential threat our portal was facing, we also hoped to address some known pain points:
The current portal was difficult for users to find. It sat behind a login screen, requiring users to "continue as a guest" in order to see it.
EPA's many data streams could not be searched from one centralized location. An ambitious dashboard aiming to consolidate permit data was deemed too expensive to justify.
With access to resources from the NPDES team as well as the team in charge of the dashboard, we started with the data, learning:
After brainstorming with the client and technical team members, I found out why this project was gridlocked. The client was after something extremely ambitious, and supporting contractors were struggling to reign in the scope to something that could be delivered in one month's time.
Could this aggressive timeline actually prove to be an advantage in satisfying the client's vision? High engineering costs had been the nail in the coffin for so many former attempts. Knowing this, and given our time crunch, we decided to go for something extremely lightweight and focused specifically on permit lookup:
That night, I quickly prototyped my vision for the search platform in Adobe XD.
In order to take advantage of the USWDS component library, our front-end would be built in Angular. With a shortage of Angular developers, I took the opportunity to become familiar with the platform.
After successfully setting up my local environment, I stepped up to assist with front-end development, largely modifying CSS to more closely match my prototype and ensure mobile responsiveness.
The project was a success on all fronts:
