AWARE — Decision Support for NWS Forecasters

A National Weather Service forecaster has to understand the weather, compare it with a partner’s thresholds, and prepare language people can act on. Those steps often happen across separate tools. Each switch risks losing the map view and the reasoning behind a decision.

I led UX design and user research on a four-person core team and built a substantial share of the front end. I observed routine shifts and a live high-wind event, tested the information architecture with forecasters, and worked with utility partners to understand how forecast terms become operational decisions.

The research pointed to one rule: the map is working memory. AWARE keeps a single live map while the forecaster moves through Overview, Analysis, Alerting, and Briefing. Position, zoom, layers, and time stay put.

I replaced an early modal hazard wizard with one editable hazard object. A forecaster can draw an area, adjust impacts, inspect the generated National Weather Service product text, and revise any part without leaving the map. A visible readiness checklist explains what is complete before issuance. Time controls persist across map views, so playback survives a move to another task.

The public research build shipped 10 releases in 14 weeks. It demonstrates a continuous path from weather analysis to hazard authoring and partner briefing. This is a research demo hosted by NOAA GSL, not an operational NWS product. The full case study covers the research, rejected concepts, shipped states, and lessons from building the interface.