Safeguarding first responders with next-level location services.
Design a next-gen navigation system for first responders to reliably find each other within multi-story buildings
— without GPS.
NextNav, founded in 2007 by former Qualcomm and Texas Instruments team members, developed the Metropolitan Beacon System (MBS), an indoor positioning system with GPS-like functionality, including altitude (Z axis) along with longitude (X) and latitude (Y). This technology enhances location awareness for first responders by providing precise floor-level visibility in buildings. The barometric sensing technology, installed on cell phone towers, meets FCC's latest 911 requirements. NextNav's software aims to be available to wireless carriers and supports an application for visualizing location data.
While NextNav had pioneered a breakthrough tech with its terrestrial positioning network, and a core wish list of features, they didn’t have a product that rendered the data in a clear, intuitive fashion. We were brought in to design a simple product solution that brought the technology to life on mobile devices in a way that could make it real for first responders, and actually help people save lives.
Problems
▸ Synthesizing streams of information
Integrating numerous data feeds (3D location, identity, among others) within a single, small pane in such a way to enable first responders to make quick risk-based decisions.
▸ Grasping needs of distinctive users
Special ops and first responders have unconventional procedures, methods, and tactics of operating in the field that needed to be understood and considered throughout.
▸ Designing for stressful situations
Rendering 3D locations on a screen so as to be quickly readable in high-stress scenarios.
▸ Factoring in privacy
Communication with first-responders usually happens over radio channels and for privacy reasons, names are not generally used to protect individuals.
▸ Escalating emergencies
Designing an emergency alert system within the app for moments when it’s necessary to rapidly escalate with a distress signal.
▸ Designing for chain of command
Building a design system that could be both personal and flexible. One first responder may be part of multiple teams. And as multiple teams arrive on a scene, there is a chain of command.
What NextNav shared
As we began, NextNav shared the Service Commercial Release specifications, a technical paper that described what NextNav intended to build. It was drafted to convey future product functionality to the government, investors, AT&T, and FirstNet, the dedicated wireless network provider for public safety providers. NextNav’s product team had also invested time in an early vision for how they imagined this product could be visually represented.
TM began by interviewing a cross-section of first responders, including those on the front line (police officers, fire fighters, special operations, EMS) and those in command (police and fire chiefs), before aligning on core personas. TM used these personas as anchors throughout the design process to ensure the design of the full experience took into account real-world needs and workflows.
First responders
A person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance at the scene of an emergency, such as an accident, natural disaster, or terrorist attack. First responders typically include paramedics, emergency medical technicians, police officers, firefighters, rescuers, and other trained members of organizations.
Incident response commander
Among those on-site at the scene of an emergency to provide assistance. However, the commander serves as the incident manager. They are responsible for the location, safety, and success of the first responder team they are managing.
Ops / Buyer
Ensures their department is equipped with the best tools to do their best work. They are also responsible for reducing the cost overhead for licenses and purchase orders.
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Flexible team configurations
As NextNav had originally conceived of the technology, users would only be allowed to broadcast location to one team (or group) at a time, a limitation created based on data cost constraints. However the TM user research demonstrated that responders are often part of multiple groups at once (e.g. Group Engine 2 as well as Group Fire X), and so the product experience needed to account for this reality. TM was able to structure a solution that wasn’t cost-prohibitive for NextNav and still solved for user needs.
Rich 3D mapping with building data
The early user research revealed that first responders often go into multiple unique buildings as part of one incident. For example, addressing an emergency in one building often requires access to a neighboring building. Thus, the application needed to provide visibility into multiple buildings at once with floorplan data, and allow first responders to switch focus between buildings in an intuitive way. TM designs blend building-level data with altitude-level data, making it possible to add markers for buildings—in addition to people—without overwhelming first responders with unnecessary layers of information.
Mapping the journey
A detailed map of information architecture was built to visualize the movement through the product experience that a user would take. What interactions would lead them down different paths? How could TM build parity between device types?
When seconds count, precision matters
Designs don’t make any assumptions about the dexterity of individual responders. Screens support large click targets for common functions and optimize for all lighting conditions. Familiar patterns were drawn from recognizable mapping solutions.
Designing for commanders
Larger screens are tailored to support commanders as they track the location of their personnel on 3D maps. With the larger real estate, the designs overlay additional contextual information on top of the map, which feed commanders all the information they might need to track their teams in the field, ensure their safety, and succeed in their missions.
The altimeter challenge
A core challenge of this project involved visualizing altitude in a way that is both obvious and familiar, without being overly technical. Enter the altimeter, a vertical bar on the left side of the screen that reveals more information in a forced pressed state. While designs of the altimeter incorporate layers of sophisticated calculations on the back-end, they are rigorously and intentionally spare, so as to avoid unnecessary interface distractions, focusing instead of the minimum amount of detail to accomplish the job. The forced-pressed state is inspired by familiar patterns and reveals people’s names and their exact relative position to each other. The system solves the problem how to visualize multiple people on one floor while progressively revealing just the right amount of necessary information in an intuitive way by using enhanced interactions (pinch, zoom, focus).
Industrial meets innovation
Visual design explorations took shape around two directions: The first was industrial, prioritizing ergonomics and precision of information. The second was more bleeding edge and futuristic, amplifying the innovative aspects of the technology. The winning choice, the first, prioritizes utility—relying on colors and shapes that reinforce feelings of trust. Final designs avoid unnecessary distractions; color comes through with rigorously considered purpose. The designs draw intentional inspiration from familiar apps like Uber and Apple products, to lessen any learning curve. And all essential information is layered with efficiency and polish.
The real challenge with this project was capturing that other dimension, the vertical dimension, in a simple and clear way. Was there an alternative to a 3D view? I was concerned 3D could be stressful in a mobile phone to pan, zip and zoom around. We wanted something that would feel familiar in terms of patterns to those who have used mapping apps.
I actually had the idea for the altimeter, which lays altitude on top of 2D, in our kickoff. It’s far less stressful to look at a birds’ eye view than a 3D view. So I started sketching it, referencing altimeters in planes. I wanted this altimeter to tell you the same thing but in a single point. Getting to the final state involved an exhaustive process of figuring out how to strip almost everything away.
The real challenge with this project was capturing that other dimension, the vertical dimension, in a simple and clear way. Was there an alternative to a 3D view? I
Series E Funding
Display screen or portion thereof with graphical user interface
For the work done with NextNav, I was awarded a patent for a novel design solution that displays a device's geospatial location in the physical world on a digital interface. This innovative approach, a first for location-based digital interfaces, allows viewers to effortlessly interpret latitude, longitude, and altitude simultaneously. The significance of this patent is underscored by its reference in several subsequent designs, including projects at Meta and Airbnb, highlighting its substantial impact and utility in the field of digital geospatial representation.