MPG Matrix
OVERVIEW
"In walking out this exercise, I conclude that this tool is very cool!"
Problem: MPG Ranch had created a model in which they could map out ecosystems and imagine experimental changes, but was unfortunately clunky and unintuitive for MPG Ranch themselves and other researchers to use.
Solution: What started as creating an interactive tool for MPG Ranch researchers evolved into designing a dashboard, MPG Matrix, that was also tailored for land managers, students, educators, and the general public to make better wildlife management decisions and understand ecological concepts. Users can launch experiments, compare results, explore connection strength between organisms, and so much more.
As the lead product designer on this project, my team and I…
Translated MPG Ranch’s ecosystem model into a web-based tool that could serve both researchers and the public
Created a user experience that balanced the complexity of ecological data with an approachable and engaging interface
Designed interactive visualizations that ensured scientific accuracy
Collaborated closely with scientists and developers to iterate on prototypes to refine how model outputs were represented and manipulated
Created a cohesive visual design that aligned with MPG Ranch’s brand and accessibility
Conducted design QA and user feedback reviews in attempt to increase the usability of the product
PROBLEM
Making an intricate ecological model understandable and useful inside and beyond the research lab
When we first started out on this project, we were concerned with two main users: admins, meaning clients who developed and own their model, and researchers/scientists, meaning people who would be interested in using the project for their own research.
Super User
Admins (Client)
Goals / motivations:
Make changes to the matrix model itself
Model base matrices to promote and control content
Frustrations / painpoints:
Used to working with a certain workflow, so it can be hard to get too far out of comfort zone
Primary User
Researcher/Scientist
Goals / motivations:
Make their own experiments and matrices to further their work and test their own ideas
Frustrations / painpoints:
Need a lot of flexibility and customization in the model
Understanding the model itself
After we had developed initial designs for these users, we began to explore the potential for use beyond professional and graduate level research. We brainstormed use cases for less technical users like land managers and students, such as creating drafting hunting quotas in an environments and understanding ecological concepts like primary production, respectively.
Primary User
Land Manager
Goals / motivations:
Test land management proposals and make plans around the specific environment they work with
Frustrations / painpoints:
Need to create their own matrix
Can be less technically savvy
Secondary User
Student
Goals / motivations:
Understand key ecological concepts
Create small experiments in matrices
Frustrations / painpoints:
Complicated technological product
Can get frustrated more easily
Secondary User
Teacher
Goals / motivations:
Teach how to use the matrix to their students
Make their own matrices to fit their lesson plans
Frustrations / painpoints:
Need to have a good understanding of a complicated model to accomplish relatively less complicated goals
Tertiary User
Smart General Public
Goals / motivations:
Appreciate the complexity of ecosystems
Make small experiments of existing matrices
Frustrations / painpoints:
Complicated subject matter
Can give up quickly if confusing
EXPERIMENT MODE
Designing an interactive model for users to explore interconnected species and environmental dynamics
Setting up a matrix
MPG Ranch referred to their ecosystem models as matrices. While there are numerous complexities to a matrix, it most simply is a network of nodes which represent key players in an ecosystem. Any changes made to those nodes or their relationship with each other will change the overall picture of the ecosystem.
We then sat down to design a visual interactive, starting with the nodes themselves and their relationship to each other. We designed a main view which displays each node by its picture, name, and relative abundance, organized by trophic level. Hovering on a node or its name in the connections panel to the right displays arrows that indicate which other nodes each organism impacts or is impacted by and to what degree.
When setting up a matrix, users can add new nodes or change the settings of existing nodes. First up, they add basic information about the node, such as the name, description, and trophic level of the node itself. They can also determine if the node is an "input" or "output," which impacts how it will behave in the model itself.
Next, they can set up the population and abundance settings for the node. Since it is impossible to know exactly how many organisms exist in an ecosystem, its mapped by determining an abundance unit, relative minimum, mode, and maximum for the population. From there, they can set a starting abundance for their node.
Users that are especially technical can adjust advanced settings. Luckily, the generic settings are usually appropriate for less technical users setting up their own matrices, as these inputs start to become quite complicated.
When users have created nodes, they need to determine the relationship that these nodes may have to each other. For example, deer hunters would impact deer negatively or moderate precipitation would likely impact grass positively. To do this, we've built an editable table in which users can input node connection strengths. They can even download and upload spreadsheets if they prefer to work in a different workspace for this step.
Additional views for making changes to a matrix
Any updates made to a node in a matrix will change the overall picture of the ecosystem. We created a couple of extra views that display general statistics and abundance in new ways that may provide insight towards users making decisions around their matrices.
PLAY MODE
Visualizing the simple cause and effect of changes to ecosystems
For our less technical users, we added a layer of experimentation that lets them make small adjustments to existing matrices, without getting too deep into the details. When they open an existing matrix, they see all the nodes organized by trophic level (i.e. primary producers, primary consumers, etc.) and their relative abundance displayed on a slider below the node image. They can move sliders back and forth and run the model to see how a change to a node's abundance impacts other nodes in the ecosystem. When they hover over a node, they can also see which other nodes they impact or are impacted by as displayed by their connection strength.
In the example above, the user is hovering over "Elk/deer" and can see that they are connected to many other nodes in the ecosystem. When they move the slider all the way up from 826 to 996 individuals and select "run model", they can see how that changes the relative abundance of connecting nodes. More plainly, if the elk population drastically increased in this ecosystem, it would impact many organisms. Some would be positively impacted, such as mountain lions who would experience an increase in food source while others would be negatively impacted, such as shrubs which would be consumed by the larger elk population.
Additionally, users can select "view results" to see another visualization of their cause and effect changes. This provides a lens to view the scale of the changes that their abundance change caused.
SITE DESIGN
Building a clean and logical interface to guide users when engaging with the model to encourage exploration
To set up the users for success, we tried to make the beginning of the experience as flexible and visual as possible. In addition to following a "how to use" tutorial that goes over the basics of the site, we designed three different gallery systems, each catered towards different user groups:
Public matrices are where new and basic users can start their exploration to understand why the model is interesting and its basic use cases
Education modules are a place where teachers and students can view simple matrices that show basic ecological concepts for learning
Private gallery is a place where more technical users can find, sort, and create new matrices or experiments to test their own hypotheses and explore.
Additionally, we designed an about page that includes important information like FAQs, methodology, sources, and privacy policy. We also created a feedback page that allows MPG Ranch to hear directly from their users to understand how they can continue to improve the experience.
