We know exploring sites and viewing site profiles is one of the most commonly used features. So we've made some improvements to make them easier to use, based on your feedback.

Finding layer packs

Last year, we released curated packs of layers, organized by benefit (e.g. a pack for Cooling, Water Supply, etc). This allows you to see a holistic view of the current conditions of each benefit in our multibenefit model. However, we heard that these packs were not easy to find.

The following updates are now available:

• The layer library now separates out layer packs at the top, and then individual layers below.
• When you enable multiple layers or packs, the layer legend also separates out packs and individual layers.
• We tweaked our layer search bar to yield more accurate and useful results.

Layer usability improvements

The following usability improvements are now available for active layers:

• The data popover, which appears when clicking the map, has been redesigned to improve legibility and access to guidebook documentation.
• The legend now informs you if you are zoomed too far out or in to see the contents of a layer, with a new button to automatically zoom you to the appropriate level.

Site profile improvements

The following updates to the site profile are now available:

• The Benefits tab is now available globally for a sketch, instead of only at the site level. This allows you to see the benefits for the entire sketch across all sites.
• We've simplified the Rainfall card by allowing you to toggle between different units (gallons vs acre-feet vs people) and timespans (annual average vs storm event).

For many new project creators, the first question we hear is: "What does a real sketch look like?" That's why we created a new sample sketch for one of our favorite projects: Magic Johnson Park. This sketch is now pre-loaded in all existing and new accounts.

In this sample sketch, you can see:

• A guided tour of the Magic Johnson Park project
• Example observations from site visits and community input
• Example remedies, as a subset of the full project design
• A site profile with data about the site, along with estimated remedy costs and benefits

To find the sample sketch, log into your account and navigate to the Home screen. If you'd like a deeper look into Magic Johnson Park, visit our interactive, After the Rain.

We know Magic Johnson Park is a large project, and many project creators are looking to start small. If there's a smaller project you'd like to see made into a sample sketch, let us know!

Lastly, a big thank you to those who have advised on our storytelling around Magic Johnson Park:

• Wendy Chan at MIG
• Raffy Piamonte, Tiffany Chang, and Kara Plourde at LA County Department of Public Works
• Reggie Johnson at Willowbrook Inclusion Network

Observations are useful for documenting findings from site visits and community engagement. Today, we are releasing two major improvements to facilitate better data collection.

File attachments

You can now attach images, videos, audio clips, PDFs, and other files to both observations and comments. This allows for more visual and immersive site documentation, as well as easy access to formal documents, such as soil study results.

Replies

You can now add replies to any observations. This allows your team to collaborate on annotating and processing your observations. It also allows community members to respond to each others' observations by adding additional context or opinions.

We've heard how useful the guidebook articles are for discovering new remedies, learning strategies for improving benefits, and understanding data. With this update, we've made it easier to access and navigate the guidebook as a stand-alone resource:

• A new guidebook button is available at the top right of the screen, providing access to the guidebook globally at any time
• The guidebook now includes a lefthand sidebar, allowing you to navigate among articles
• A new search bar allows you to discover remedies, benefits, and layers

The Field Kit team has been refining the experience to make it easier to use and more accessible for people with diverse abilities and needs. You may notice some of the following refinements:

• An updated, higher-contrast color palette inspired by the Los Angeles native landscape
• Clearer text
• Buttons and links that are easier to find and interact with
• Extra polish on virtually every component in the interface

Welcome! Thank you for being a part of our growing community. In addition to making it easier for new people to sign-up and jump-in, we've recently made a couple of improvements:

Observations

• You can now create your own observation categories, as well as edit and delete the default categories

Exports

• CSV exports are now available
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Read more about the public availability release on our website
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Today we're releasing a preview of features and design improvements in advance of our upcoming public availability. Thank you to all of our beta partners who provided feedback to guide these improvements!

Below is a full list of changes in this release:

Home screen

• Re-titled the "Your Workshops" page to "Home"
• Renamed "workshops" to "sketches" to reflect the broader set of ways users make use of our files

Sites

• Renamed site polygons from "sketches" to "sites" to clarify their role in demarcating geographic areas
• Added the ability to create sites via parcels
• Added list of sites to the righthand panel

Site profiles

• Moved the site profile to a persistent righthand panel
• Simplified the data presentation in the profile
• Added a ranking of site opportunities
• Renamed "effects" to "benefits" to simplify language
• Added the ability to "pin" benefits to the top of the list
• Removed the display of benefit point values to emphasize the importance of the relative benefits mix, rather than the specific point value
• Removed the sum of up-front + annual costs, so up-front and annual costs will always display separately

Observations

• Renamed "stories" to "observations" to emphasize a broader set of use cases for site annotations, including community input, site visits, and asset inventories
• Replaced "story prompts" with "observations categories"
• Updated the iconography to a map pin shape

Layers

• Renamed "data layers" to "layers"
• Added layer search to more easily find layers
• Added curated "packs" of layers for each benefit
• Updated layers with more detailed data sets, often now showing variations in data within a single site
• Added additional layers, totaling 65+ layers and 15 packs

Guidebook

• Remedies, benefits, and layers now include a book icon, which links to a guidebook article
• Guidebook articles include overviews, design tips, and links to additional resources

Sharing

• Replaced participant link with a "collaborator link." Users who have received a participant link in the past should be re-invited with the new collaborator link.
• Users who receive the collaborator link are now identified with a user account and displayed in a list of collaborators
• Added ability to see all sketches that have been shared with you to in your home screen

And more...

• Added the ability to search and filter remedies, making them easier to find
• Added accessibility settings
• Comments now include chat icons
• Exports are updated to match the new profile. CSV exports are temporarily disabled while we continue to propagate these updates.
• Renamed "Workshop Layers" to "Visibility" and moved to map controls on the bottom right
• Help Center is now accessible at help.la.livinginfrastructure.org in addition to within the tool

We hope you find this refresh enlivening! Please reach out if you have any feedback or questions.

With care and community,
The Living Infrastructure Field Kit Team