Focus Groups, Interviews, and Surveys
User-Driven Feedback
WATER Hub's social science team is committed to better understanding the behaviors and needs of the end-users of both our public and private dashboards. One way this is done is by connecting directly with end-users through focus groups, interviews, surveys, and events.
Outlined below is how the WATER Hub team connected with end-users in Phase I.
Gateways, Sensors, and Private Dashboards
| Organization providing feedback | Context for engagement | End-user feedback theme |
|---|---|---|
| Garden City, KS | 14 end-users engaged | Focus groups and interviews with city water officials | Water quality data is sensitive and should be maintained privately. |
| Dodge City, KS | 8 end-users engaged | Focus groups and interviews with city water officials | Water quality sensors in wells help determine which wells to pump on a given day for municipal use. |
| Deerfield, KS | 5 end-users engaged | Focus groups and interviews with city water officials | Engineering challenges installing water quality sensors. Led to inclusion of water tanks in Phase II budget. |
| Irrigators/farmers | 26 end-users engaged | Focus groups and interviews with city water officials | Dashboard should combine water-level data with water use data and soil composition data on one dashboard |
Public-facing Dashboards
| Event | Organizations Included | Feedback Theme |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboard Showcase event | 32 end-users engaged | KGO, KGS, KWI, KBS, KWO, KDA, GMD 1, GMD 3, GMD 4, Kansas House Water Committee | This focused our project on providing educational value around the progress states make in managing their water resources |
| State agency and water centers focus groups | 15 end-users engaged | KWO, KGS, KBS, KWI | Create advisory board of experts and align dashboards with internal data tools for state agencies |
| Kansas Environmental Conference | 28 end-users engaged | KDHE, KGO, KWO, KWI, KDA | Develop flexible dashboard tool for the end-user to choose geography, water quality characteristics, and data sources |
| Individual GMD Focus Groups | 16 end-users engaged | GMD 1, GMD 3, GMD 4 | Create regional options on public-facing dashboard to support local decision-making. |
| House Water Committee Testimony | 10 end-users engaged | State legislators on the Kansas house water committee | Create a dashboard tool that brings together water data to support policy evaluation of Kansas state programs. |