Field Data Collection Automation
- 1. Automating Field Data Collection best practices, workflow design, and techniques
- 2. Automating Field Data Collection Coleman McCormick EVP, Fulcrum coleman@fulcrumapp.com @colemanm
- 3. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 About me Coleman McCormick 12 years in mapping / GIS 7 years developing software products Work with companies + organizations worldwide on business process, data management, software
- 4. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016
- 5. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 What we do Software company in St Petersburg, FL est. 2009 Mobile form builder — web, iOS, Android Workforce management Automation & streamlining of data collection SaaS subscription service Worldwide customer base — 100+ countries
- 6. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Field collection use cases • Asset management • Damage assessments • Inspections • Public works • Regulatory audits • On and on…
- 7. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Agenda Goals and objectives in collecting data Brief history of data collection A look at workflow Friction and its causes Techniques Some examples of automation in action
- 8. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Ideals + Goals i need to collect some data. what does “success” look like?
- 9. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 What’s the ideal process? • Think about goals and objectives • What questions need answering? • Who are the stakeholders? (Who’s asking the questions?) • Interviews — understand the “why” of the requirements • Paint the picture — what does success look like? • Tasking your field workforces
- 10. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Start by defining the successful final result, and work backwards! bit.ly/amazon-product-dev Need consensus on goals from bottom to top “First write the press release, then build the product” Meeting Mission Objectives
- 11. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 On-Demand • Leadership wants answers to questions now, not 3, 6, or 12 months later • Reporting on specific data views — the data I want, when I want it
- 12. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 On-Demand • Event-driven decision making • Push and pull to get answers — Notifications vs. self- service reporting, hybrid environments
- 13. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Other key goals • Cost savings — fieldwork is expensive; room for huge savings • Reliability — critical data can’t be wrong, costs incurred with unreliable inputs or systems • Speed — decisions can’t be made without the data in hand! • Compliance — proof of work, audit history • No duplication of effort
- 14. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 a rapid evolution in technology A Brief History
- 15. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Pen and paper, notes, transcription pain time between collection + decision = wide gap
- 16. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Then we advanced, sorta
- 17. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Finally! Integrated sensors Mobile computing Low cost Off-the-shelf Ease of use
- 18. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Historic challenges • Error-prone — handwritten, hard to QC, clunky • Time-consuming — lots of duplication, revisits to fix mistakes and fill gaps • Delays — reporting + aggregation takes days or weeks • Difficult to integrate — needs transcription / cleanup
- 19. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Workflow understanding, designing, iterating
- 20. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Feedback loops
- 21. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Start at the beginning • What questions need answering? • What data do I need to get those answers? • Who are the stakeholders? • How will we get the needed info?
- 22. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016
- 23. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Easy pitfalls • Overengineering • Minimize the “nice to haves” • KISS • YAGNI — “you aren’t gonna need it”
- 24. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 • What’s the aggregate burden of capturing everything? • If something slips through the cracks, which thing will it be? • Weighting expectations against the goals • Classify things by “order of importance” • Better yet — If you can’t envision how some information will be used, why bother with it? “If our team is going to be on site, let’s just get everything we can…”
- 25. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 A quick story about our approach to workflow design…
- 26. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 • JIFX field experiments — Camp Roberts, CA • Goal: Field test technologies / tools for disaster relief scenarios • Work with FEMA to field test mobile tools for damage assessment data capture
- 27. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016
- 28. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016
- 29. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016
- 30. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016
- 31. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Friction the source of our data management pains
- 32. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Automation = the removal of friction “Alexa, get me an Uber” Tap a button → Perform an action
- 33. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Common sources of friction • Technology — tools are too complicated, systems over-designed, “solution looking for a problem” • Work — complexity of the work, steps in the workflow • Human factors — compliance, need-to-know, organizational silos
- 34. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 It’s not all bad, but should reduce what we can control There is always some friction in the workflow
- 35. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Treat the sources, not the symptoms. If not, your workflow becomes a patchwork of workarounds.
- 36. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Iteration • Incremental reflection + improvement • Look at whole workflow, seek frictions, test new methods to reduce, re-deploy, re-test • Scrum!
- 37. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 A Few Techniques demonstrating ways to reduce friction (with tech)
- 38. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Some samples of what this looks like • Autofilling data • Real-time QA • StreetView integration • Capturing weather data
- 39. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Autofilling parcel data
- 40. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 QA settings read-only data fields required for submission validation if-this-then-that conditions
- 41. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Live QA/QC
- 42. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Google StreetView
- 43. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Auto-populate weather
- 44. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Looking forward • Workflow — triggers / actions, “if this, then that” • Dispatch / scheduling • On-demand metrics + reporting
- 45. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Automation in Action examples from the field
- 46. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Automation in action • A few diverse examples: • Comcast — telecom • HALO Trust — humanitarian aid • Desert Channels — wildlife • Century Engineering — civil engineering
- 47. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 The HALO Trust fulcrumapp.com/cases/halo-trust
- 48. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 fulcrumapp.com/cases/desert-channels-queensland
- 49. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Century Engineering fulcrumapp.com/cases/century-engineering
- 50. field data automation ✦ fulcrumapp.com/gispro2016 Thanks! fulcrumapp.com/blog @fulcrumapp Coleman McCormick EVP, Fulcrum coleman@fulcrumapp.com