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Display calculated rank status in Biotics - Input Needed
Kansas doesn't use the rank calculator and we don't envision using it in the future.
Indiana
1. We do use the rank calculator and have been trying to encourage its regular use
2. Automatic calculation would be the better option
3. Don't mind the Date Calculated, just have it separated and clearly marked
4. Don't quite know what is meant by Dynamically Calculated Rank. That would be confusing, would just want the Calculated Rank.
5. Button calculation for the Threats, my thoughts for the Threats is that it is a lot of work to use it for only changes on the margins of getting a rank.
Thanks,
Arizona
1) We regularly use the rank calculator and have been patiently waiting for its inclusion into Biotics.
2) Dynamic calculation is a bit confusing, especially since we are more concerned with Assigned and Calculated Ranks.
3) On that note, I am unsure why Assigned Rank, along with Rank Change Date and Rank Review Date are not changeable and instead are in a summary box. For the states, we are more concerned with Assigned Rank anyhow and would be working with those fields more.
4) As for the Date Calculated field, it should be there next to Calculated Rank.
5) Although some of the sections that go into building the rank may be hard to fill in for some species, depending on what is known (especially for those states that share borders and flora/fauna with other countries as Arizona does), I feel they are all important if they can contribute to a solid defense of the rank.
South Dakota
1. We began using the rank calculator about a year ago and plan on continuing its use.
2. Automated rank calculation would be preferred.
3. Date calculated field would not be that helpful for our use.
4. This is confusing. There should just be one calculated rank and another assigned rank field.
5. No opinion. We currently do not incorporate the threats calculator in our rank calculator.
Florida:
1. We regularly use the rank calculator. The standardization it provides was a important selling point in a recent contract to rank some of our SGCN. Staff who had been turned off by previous versions or didn't like the idea at all now see the benefit.
2. Auto calc preferred
3. I like the date calculated field, it's good to have to catch cases where people just go in an change one factor based on new research without reviewing all factors.
4. As long as the primary calculation is still supposed to happen in the Excel calculator, I think its good to separate the auto-calculated rank from the calculated rank which informs the current official (assigned) rank.
5. This seems like it would be fairly simple to implement. For threats I would like to see auto roll-up of non Level 1 threats to Level 1 since these are what the calculator uses. A button to trigger calculation of overall threat makes sense.
Washington
1. Infrequent users, but plant to use the calculator more in the near future. Having the calculator built-in would be very convenient.
2. Don't mind the automatic calculation.
3. Like the Date Calculated field - it would be helpful to see the Calculated Date and the Assigned Change/Review dates in the same place. As a side note - similar to Arizona's comment - some staff were wondering if it would be more logical to be able to edit the Assigned Rank and Assigned Change/Review dates in the ESR instead of the EST (have the summary in the EST).
4. Like the dynamic rank calculation as an 'on the fly' look at how a change in a rank factor affects the rank, but wonder if the dynamic rank value popping us as you score metrics could end up biasing the ranking process.
5. The threat matrix could be streamlined and still be useful. This would make threat calculation simpler.
South Carolina:
1 - We are infrequent users - historically biologists have used an in-house developed rank criteria when assigning rank which is very similar to the Rank Calculator, but we are hoping to run through a few species to compare and likely transition to the rank calculator.
2 - We agree.
3 - Date calculated is probably appropriate as long as it is clearly differentiated from Date reviewed.
4 - This does seem confusing, but without regular experience with the rank calculator i would be unsure of how to improve. Maybe if there was a definition of Dynamic Calculation explicitly written near the field it would help? Or renaming the field to something like 'Draft Calculation'?
5 - We agree with Arizona's comments.
North Carolina:
1. Yes, we use it regularly.
2. Automatic calculation is fine, but shouldn't overwrite the assigned rank or other fields. That includes that is should not overwrite the rank methodology used field (you might be using a different methodology and not want to lose that record every time you change a rank factor and get automatically recalculated).
3. Date Calculated is helpful, distinct from a rank change or rank review date.
4. The 3 rank fields make sense, but suggest that the field "Calculated" be named something a bit more descriptive, maybe "Calculated Rank Reviewed".
5. Button calculation sounds fine, but we are curious what the individual threats grids will look like. Also, we wonder why the conclusion is different for threat calculator is different from the overall rank, why not do this dynamically too? We would like to see the mockup as it's developed.
Oregon:
1. We use the rank calculator a ton and have had funding from federal partners to rank hundreds of species using this methodology. People are happy with it so we will continue to use it.
2. Agree
3. Agree. Maybe have a tool tip for the Dynamically Calculated Rank that explains that it is solely based on data entered into ESR fields used by the rank calculator, to help explain why the dynamic value might be vastly different from the calculated value for programs that haven't populated the ESR records.
4. Not too confusing, as long as they are visually separated and defined w tool tips/help doc. I think the design you have proposed works well.
5. Given that threats have such a big impact on the Rank Calculator outcome, I'm glad to hear that the threat calculator is in the works for Biotics. We haven't used it a ton in the Excel calculator but I would like to see the threats better documented and being in Biotics should help. Seems fine to have a button to calculate the overall threat.
Other comments: Do we really need the "Store as calculated rank" button - it is not difficult to copy and paste the Dynamically Calculated Rank into the Calculated Rank box or type in.
I agree it makes more sense to edit the Assigned Rank in the ESR rather than the EST, and have it as display only in the EST. That could encourage users to document why they set the rank in the ESR, even if it's just a comment in the Assigned Rank Reason, that is really helpful information.
Pop-up window when Dynamically Calculated Rank has changed: I think this will be too distracting, as you are often changing multiple factors when reviewing the rank. And I agree with Jasa's comment that it could cause some user bias.
Icon for fields used in rank calculator: I like having it visually shown to users which fields are used for the rank calculator. I'm not sure an icon/tool tip is necessary, a label on the box title might be sufficient: "Range Extent (used in rank calculator)".
Yukon
- Yes, we use it regularly and can't wait to have this functionality in Biotics!
- Agree with automatic recalculation.
- “Date Calculated” field would be useful.
- It is not clear to us what the difference is between Dynamically Calculated and Calculated - could you clarify?
- Looking forward to seeing a threats calculator developed. No further input at this time.
We’d like to address some of the comments we’ve received by clarifying why there are two calculated rank values.
We decided when we implemented the Excel Rank Calculator that it was worthwhile to store in Biotics the calculated rank used to assign the rank. It’s informative if the user modified the calculated rank when assigning. But we don’t want to store the dynamically calculated rank, because it will often not be valid, for example when only one rank factor was changed without full rank review, or when the rank factor values are old (say, from 1999).
Thus there are 3 rank values: 1) a calculation of rank based on every change to the data (not a field, just a calculation), 2) a stored calculated rank value, only updated when ranking work is done, 3) the assigned rank.
With the Excel Rank Calculator, there appeared to be only one calculated rank value because there was one dynamically updated Calculated Rank field in the Excel file. But when the full workflow was followed, there was actually a second calculated rank--the one stored in Biotics when, once you were done with the ranking, you entered both the Assigned and Calculated ranks into Biotics. The Calculated Rank field in Biotics has not changed; it’s still the stored calculated rank. What’s new is that the dynamically calculated rank is now displayed in Biotics.
Also, in response to the re-arrangement of the placement of the assigned rank and associated dates, several programs have asked why these fields are not editable in the Ranking Window. We recognize that it would be very useful to be able to edit these fields in the Ranking Window in addition to the Tracking window. But this is a future improvement due to the development effort involved.
1.Yes
2.Yes. We like that an info message summarizing the rank factor change will display if changed factor results in changed Dynamically Calculated Rank.
3. Agree that “Date Calculated” field could be useful for knowing actual date rank was calculated, since in BC we generally assigned/bulk load Rank Review Date to correspond with end of fiscal year and annual rank update for consistency.
4. Botany comment: It might be confusing, unless explained. When would Assigned Rank differ from Calculated Rank? Perhaps there would be no Calculated Rank from a time before the Rank Calculator was used? Since all of our taxa have been reviewed in a rank calculator and the values in Assigned and Calculated Ranks should be the same, it might be redundant to see Calculated Rank displayed. I would want to see Dynamically Calculated Rank, which could change if a rank factor was changed.
Zoology comment: I don’t think that it would be too confusing and it would be important to have. I do think that it is really important to have some sort of flag or warning when the assigned rank is different than the calculated rank, whether it was a conscious change or not. If the exceptional case has been made where there calculated rank (dynamically or otherwise) is over-ridden with an assigned rank, then there needs to be a warning to fill in the “Rank Adjustment Reasons” and some sort of message to indicate that this is to be done only in exceptional cases.
5. Sounds great and makes scense. Does this means that once the threat grid is completed, that the overall threat can be popped into the rank calculation portion of Biotics?
We don't use the rank calculator in New Jersey. Potentially we would use it in the future, but don't delete the manual input option when this is integrated into Biotics.
1. Yes, Nevada uses the calculator for our element ranking tasks.
2. Automatic recalculation of the dynamic rank is fine with us, as is the button to store as the Calculated Rank.
3. Yes, definitely include and update the Calculation Date field. Question: will this be populated with an initial value if/when imported from the Excel calculator? Will it be the date stored in the calculator, or the date imported? Would it be appropriate to also store the basis for the date? (Imported from Excel; Date of import; Changed in Biotics) This information might facilitate quicker interpretation of the Calculation Date.
4. As long as the different fields are clearly labeled and have informative tooltips, the three different rank fields displayed should be fine. Since the Dynamic rank is not stored, having it displayed without a box, and maybe with some additional gray background, would also help clarify its role.
5. We'll reserve feedback on a Threats Calculator implementation until a mockup is ready. We do second the previous comment that lower-level threat ranks should automatically roll-up to the level(s) above.
OTHER COMMENTS: The epic is called Import and Calculation, but there is no information or opportunity for feedback on how the Import piece will be implemented. Also, will there be an "Export" functionality to complete the circle with the Excel calculator, pending full implementation within Biotics?
Shelley Cooke
Display calculated rank status in Biotics
In the Biotics development roadmap, most of you agreed that it would be useful to implement certain aspects of rank automation prior to the much larger task of fully implementing the rank calculator in Biotics. These are specified in the "Rank Calculator: Import and Calculation" epic circled in the section of the roadmap below. Note that the "Rank Calculator: Full Implementation" epic is later, at the bottom left in orange.
We are now preparing to implement the "Rank Calculator: Import and Calculation" epic, and we need your feedback on the "Calculation" piece. This is simply a calculation of rank based on the rank factor fields in Biotics. The same rank calculation logic that is in the rank calculator will be used, but no other functionality of the rank calculator will be replicated at this time.
The wireframes below show the proposed implementation in the Biotics User Interface at all three levels (in the Element G/N/S Ranking table). Please let us know what you think, and also answer these specific questions:
NOTE: this implementation does NOT replace the current workflow that is used with Excel Rank Calculator; rather, it provides an alternate work flow that can be used alone or in conjunction with the Excel Rank Calculator.