After many years of tracking their activities on paper, the DPW Streets and Parks crews are going digital. With lots of collaboration, we now have an app that works on a smart phone in the field. The interface is simple and clear, so that crews can quickly document their work in the field. An important design goal was to keep the number of ‘clicks’ it takes to complete a form down to a minimum. As the data comes in, we will be able to easily search what happened, where it happened, and when it happened through the app’s web interface.
In the past, this was done by manually searching through piles of paper, sometimes spread out on the floor (ask Mark Wright)! As more data is collected we will be able to go beyond just documenting what gets done and start looking at trends and gaps making it easier to put crews and resources where they are most needed. Many thanks to Mark, Gabe, Brendan, Aaron, Kenny, and Tyler for their input and feedback as this came together.