type

Interview Study

method

Qualitative Interviews
Technology Probe

period

2024-2025

―

QField app is an award-winning mobile tool (developed by OPENGIS.ch) to collect, manage, and edit the geographically referenced information on the go tailored to the needs of the GIS fieldwork, such as urban planning, infrastructure work, forestry, geology, and ecology. Despite its interoperability, several challenges remain in rendering and interacting with geospatial data in situ.

We conducted semi-structured user interviews with 12 expert participants (6 male, 6 female), aged 31–40 (N=6) and 41–50 (N=6) who are either using QField or are collecting and managing geospatial data in situ. The participants were from various backgrounds, including cultural heritage response units, system administrators of water distribution and cadaster management, fire brigades, wastewater and other underground utility managers, soil data collectors, and GIS professionals.

The user study revealed that, despite differences in disciplines, field workers share a common approach to using QField. Managers prepare and upload project data via QGIS, making it accessible in the field. Field workers then mark locations, fill in predefined attributes, attach supporting media, and sync updates to the cloud. While this workflow is widely adopted, several key needs and challenges have emerged across different user groups. We identified 2D and 3D data needs regarding interactivity in the field to inform the design and implementation of the geospatial AR viewer for QField to improve spatial understanding and decision-making in situ. Figure below presents our key findings across five identified needs categories grounded in the participants' quotes from the interviews. 

Project in collaboration with Elif Gürçınar, Luca Fluri, and Arzu Çöltekin from FHNW and Marco Bernasocchi and Matthias Kuhn from OpenGIS.ch.