Terraformation Survival Rate Calculations

Summary

Mission

Monitoring live and dead plants is one of the biggest challenges to understanding the health of a planting site. This project shifted the platform's terminology from mortality rate to survival rate — a change that required complex backend calculations and a carefully designed data entry interface to support accurate scientific monitoring.

My contributions

I worked with the science team, PM, and engineering to understand the complexity of plot-based data entry across 25+ configurations, explored multiple interface approaches through iteration, and landed on a consolidated solution using smart defaults and simplified workflows. Contributions included wireframes, end-to-end flows, UI/visual design, design system component updates, stakeholder management, and user testing.

Results

Projects updated to baselines

Baseline density updates

71%

Feature adoption rate

↑

Positive reception from science teams

Problem

Shifting from mortality rate to survival rate wasn't a simple inversion — it required complex backend calculations and precise data entry. Initial plant densities (t0 baselines) needed to be set per permanent plot per planting site, with retroactive updates requiring a separate feature entirely.

Objective

Create a simple interface for updating t0 baseline calculations.

Have 27 core projects update t0 baselines.

3x baseline plant density updates for ALL projects in Terraware.

Understanding Complexity

The science team needed to input initial plant density data (t0 baseline) across potentially 25+ differently configured plots with three input types. This complexity made it challenging to design an interface that was both comprehensive and usable in the field.

Observation Management

Observations of live or dead plants is conducted in the field through our mobile app. Terraware initially calculated the less positive Mortality Rate as a signifier of health, so we decided to update the terminology.

Exploration 1

Our first exploration was a UI that separated out Observation level data from species-specific plant densities. This wouldn't work because you need to see the dates of the Observation level data paired with the densities to make sure you were adjusting the correct metrics.

Exploration 2

Another paradigm we use in Terraware we thought might work would be a single edit UI, so the user could be focused on one task at a time. This proved to be too tedious because there needed to be a better way to compare plot level data.

Exploration 3

Showing all the data and still allowing the user to edit or select certain metrics became a bit of a complex puzzle. This version was overwrought with radio buttons and delete icons. Later we collapsed a lot of this functionality into defaults (the plant density would not be changed if you didn't input anything) and adding and deleting was combined into a single line with minimal clicks.

Edit Workflow

The edit interface balances comprehensiveness with usability — providing all necessary fields while using sensible defaults to reduce cognitive load and prevent accidental data changes.

Metrics & Visualization

Survival rate metrics are visualized clearly, helping teams understand plant health trends across different plots and species over time.