Mobile App

Sherpa 6

Sensitive Site Exploitation (SSE) involves collecting and analyzing evidence, individuals, and items from specific locations, including photos, individual details, objects, drawings, panoramic scans, file uploads, and future audio/video capabilities. The current analog data collection method is cumbersome and limits sharing as users must physically exchange notes and transfer data from paper to digital formats later. To enhance SSE, we developed an ATAK app plugin for soldiers, enabling digital SSE for real-time data dissemination to onsite personnel's End User Devices (EUDs) and off-site analysts via a companion web app.

Process

Our team works each feature using a very well defined revised 5-Day Agile Process.

1. We kick off each feature project with a sprint planning meeting where we review the upcoming backlog of tickets which are often based off of research or user feedback. Here we discuss issues and potential solutions, sometimes even with a user advocate*.
2. Immediately afterward, I write the user stories with potential solutions, the MVP, and tech dependencies.
3. Next, I create wireframes based on research, then meet with and document feedback from stakeholders, including a user advocate.
4. At this point I'll finalize wireframes based on the feedback I received and upload for stakeholder final approval.
5. Then I begin working on the prototyping for final delivery and to validate with stakeholders for final review and answer any questions or provide explanations to developers so they have a clear understanding of what they are developing.
6. Once the MVP is developed, we perform user testing to receive feedback from a user advocate. This allows developers a couple of days to implement minor feedback tickets. Any major feedback is logged as a Future Enhancement.

* User advocates are teammates with previous experience performing tasks which we are attempting to replicate digitally.

Notes

In order to provide a full, contextual picture of individuals found on site, the site itself, and the items found, soldiers responsible for SSE would like to add details to each data item.

User Stories:

• As a mobile user I want the option to add details to a field for each data item so that intel personnel can more easily piece together the environment being captured (with character counter).

Map radial menu

While in the map view, users wanted a tap on a location icon to display an ATAK style radial menu so they could quickly add data items to a location. Note: a long tap on a location icon would display the location's details screen. This is particularly helpful when identifying a valuable target when en route to a destination.

User Stories:

• As a mobile user I want to quickly associate any number of data items (whether it's a person, object, room scan, or otherwise) to a location so that I can remain on the map view after creation.
• auto-fill MGRS(think geo-location) per device's location

Person grid

When performing SSE on a target, it is not uncommon for one soldier to line up captives in a row and take a profile picture of each one at a time. Then another soldier will input personal data into each captive's TQ(Tactical Questioning) card, so in order to ensure the soldier is inputing data for the correct person, s/he wants to see a larger profile picture for easy reference.

User Stories:

• As a team leader(such as a commander) mobile user I want to see captured individuals populate to 1 or more objectives and as a platoon leader mobile user I want to see captured individuals populate for 1 objectives so that I can clearly see who is being captured.
• As a soldier mobile user I want to see captured individuals populate for 1 obj so that I can clearly see who's data I'm capturing.

Flagging (used in combination w person grid)

Of all the individuals and items in a location, there might be a number that are of true interest. The high-value persons will be "marked" with chem lights around their neck and these individuals should be flagged in the SSE plugin. Marking people (as well as items) in SSE will pin to top of respective table.

User Stories:

• As a Ground Force Commander mobile user I want to see the SSE plugin any flagged individuals so we can more accurately determine how much additional time it will take to exfil because a number of soldiers will have hands on flagged people instead of on their weapons.
• As an intelligence analyst, I want to see flagged data items on the companion web app so that I can quickly see the important pieces of the puzzle above the noise of everything else captured.