Flexible Radius Settings

Role: Design Lead

Timeline: 2 Months

Dataminr's powerful AI technology detects emerging events and risks, but analysts struggled with inflexible radius settings for alerts. For instance, a wide radius helpful for severe weather events created too many alerts for hazards like traffic accidents. Conversely, a small radius ideal for hazards might miss critical severe weather alerts near assets.

Goal: Create customizable radius settings tailored to different event types, significantly improving the accuracy and usefulness of Dataminr alerts.

Problem

Analysts add assets to location group folders. These groups define the radius setting for the folder. Topics use the location group radius to match alerts.

• Asset: Retail stores, data centers, warehouses, etc.
• Topic: Category for a type of event or story customers may be interested in.

Noise

• A wide radius is helpful for severe weather events but creates too many alerts for Hazards.
• Conversely, small radii help Hazard alerting but may miss severe weather.

Topic selection today - User has no way to view or customize radius settings.

Research

We interviewed analysts about their approach to physical security to understand critical event management workflows across industries.

Alert matching is a core feature of Dataminr. Changing the radius epicenter will require 18-24 months of intense work.

Validated

• Restricting Location Groups to a single radius is inflexible and contributes to alerting issues.
• Customers duplicate location groups to customize their radius settings.
• Radius settings depend on the location, asset type, and event type.

Needs Additional Research

• The alert map is a new Dataminr feature. Further research is needed to understand maps in regards to risk assessment and how radii may be visualized.

Sample company assets in the location database. 658 Banking Offices, for example, would use the same radius regardless of their location.

Key Insights

Proximity is key for risk assessment.

• Across industries, the proximity of an event to an asset is vital for risk assessment.
• Proximity is one of many pieces of information used to prioritize response.

Risk assessment is contextual. Customers consider the following to determine their radius settings:

• Asset type - ATM, data centers, or a headquarters
• Kind of location - urban, suburban, or rural
• Event type - terrorism, extreme weather, or traffic
• Team Resources - Customers may not have risk assessment experience
• Today: Customers duplicate assets for specific scenarios -> HQ-Crime, HQ-Traffic, HQ-Weather

Customers rely on Dataminr's expertise for radius settings.

Proposal

To address customers unique needs and level of experience, we designed a solution that provides quick setup and customization.

• Provide a scalable settings solution
• Utilize onboarding to define default settings
  • Dataminr will define settings based on the customers monitoring needs. New assets use the company default settings.
• Customizable radius settings when creating alerting lists. Learn from customer radius settings to build smart radius recommendations

Outcomes

• Leadership Approval: Dataminr executives recognized the value of this proposal, paving the way for future 'Core Settings' improvements.
• Beyond Radius: While focusing on radius, the research highlighted the need for customizable settings across various data points for comprehensive risk assessment.
• Collaborative Design: Regular team meetings ensured alignment, and stakeholder buy-in enabled design research for a holistic settings experience.

Final Designs