Real-World Problem
Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) teams need to document searches, survivor interactions, hazards, structure damage, worksites, and logistics rapidly and consistently. These users may have limited time to train and may join an incident without prior familiarity with the QuickCapture project configuration.
SARCOP v10 projects can include many distinct operational actions. For example, responders must distinguish between Victim Confirmed and Victim Detected; Human Remains Detected, Confirmed, and Removed; search types such as Primary, Secondary Low, and Secondary High; and worksite statuses such as Needs Follow-Up, Assigned, and Complete / No Follow-Up Needed.
These distinctions are operationally important, but users should not need to memorize where every button is located during a time-critical incident.
See data dictionary https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=71125cc83e3a4dc9be7e141ce436bd65#overview|
Training video: https://go.screenpal.com/player/c0heYZVzJBT?controls=1&share=1&download=1&embed=1&cl=1&width=1280&height=720&overlays=1&ff=1
Technical Problem
QuickCapture’s large-button interface makes field data collection fast once users find the correct button. However, larger US&R projects may contain many buttons organized across multiple pages or button groups, including hazards, search activities, damage observations, logistics locations, structural-risk information, and operational status updates.
Users must visually scan pages or remember the project layout to find the needed action. This adds cognitive load, delays reporting, and increases the risk of selecting a similarly named but incorrect button. The problem is more pronounced for infrequent actions, mutual-aid responders, and projects using comprehensive standards such as the SARCOP data dictionary.
Solution Framework
Add an optional Button Search capability to ArcGIS QuickCapture mobile.
- Simple field interface: Add a persistent search icon that opens a large, accessible search field. Users enter a term or select a recent/suggested action.
- Find the button in two taps: Search returns matching buttons as the user types. Results display the button icon, label, parent category, and short definition. The user taps a result to navigate directly to and highlight the button, or to activate it when direct activation is enabled by the project author.
- Search project JSON locally: When a project is downloaded, refreshed, or updated, QuickCapture creates a lightweight on-device index from the project JSON. The index uses button labels, descriptions, group names, and configured search keywords.
- Configurable aliases: In QuickCapture Designer, project authors can add keywords and plain-language aliases to each button. For example, Hazardous Material Incident could include “hazmat,” “chemical,” and “biological”; Route Blocked could include “impassable,” “road closed,” and “access.”
- Offline and permission-aware: Search functions without connectivity using downloaded project configuration and returns only buttons that are visible and available to the user under existing project settings.
This enhancement would retain QuickCapture’s simple “fat button” collection experience while making comprehensive US&R projects easier to use accurately under incident conditions.
