The Problem
Natural disasters are more relevant than ever and there
isn't an all inclusive solution to helping people when
disaster strikes.
isn't an all inclusive solution to helping people when
disaster strikes.
The Solution
Improve people's experience in a natural disaster through an
innovative UX design solution.
innovative UX design solution.
What Did I Do?
UX Writing, Research, Journey Maps, Prototyping
UX Writing, Research, Journey Maps, Prototyping
Team Composition
10 UX Designers, Project Manager
Duration
Duration
3 months
Platform
Web, Mobile, Desktop, Tablet, Conversational Mediums
Tools
Pen & Paper, InDesign, Sketch, Principle
Platform
Web, Mobile, Desktop, Tablet, Conversational Mediums
Tools
Pen & Paper, InDesign, Sketch, Principle
RESEARCH
We started off our design process by gathering as much primary research as possible along with secondary research to back up our concept.
Visiting CEMA
Early on, we visited the Chatham Emergency Management Agency (CEMA). We wanted to learn more about the functions, challenges, and goals CEMA faces. Our team was able to tour their facilities, meet the various staff members, and explore the various technologies and emergency protocols they use.
Takeaways from the visit:
1. CEMA is the center of the county's emergency response system. They work with people from the local, state, and federal agencies to coordinate, manage, and respond to the county's emergencies.
1. CEMA is the center of the county's emergency response system. They work with people from the local, state, and federal agencies to coordinate, manage, and respond to the county's emergencies.
2. The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is a digital platform that connects local agencies. Their main goal is to maintain situational awareness and create a common operating picture by reducing mixed signals and keeping the city, county, and federal stakeholders on the same page.
3. CEMA is staffed 24/7 in order to answer public questions and correct rumors through phone and social media. During Irma the wait time was 6 mins and correcting false information took up a large portion of their time.
Visiting WTOC
We also visited a major local Savannah news station, WTOC to learn more about how emergency and weather information is communicated.
Some of our questions were:
-How is information disseminated to the public?
-What are the major challenges for local news?
-How has this changed over time?
Some of our questions were:
-How is information disseminated to the public?
-What are the major challenges for local news?
-How has this changed over time?
We learned:
1. Local news is broadcast to several zip codes throughout the county. Because it is spread so wide, the information they provide cannot be tailored for vastly different needs, situations and demographics.
1. Local news is broadcast to several zip codes throughout the county. Because it is spread so wide, the information they provide cannot be tailored for vastly different needs, situations and demographics.
2. However, there are positives to broadcasting. Since the internet, culture is narrowcast and the public no longer receives a single trusted source of information. People enter digital echo-zones of false information.
3. Communicating uncertainty is extremely difficult to accomplish and also be trusted at the same time. If newscasters warn people to evacuate and the storm misses them, they are going to lose trust in newscasters over time.
Interviews
We conducted 8 one on one interviews and 60 intercept interviews to get a better understanding of their emergency experiences.
Key Findings from Field Research:
The general public is subject to confusing, misleading and ambiguous information. This leads to mistrust and negatively affected decisions.
People with lower levels of income have specific needs in disaster scenarios.
Data and local assessment is essential to maintain governmental situational awareness and recovery.
Information & Ambiguity Overload
The general public is often subject to very confusing and misleading information. This leads to mistrust and negatively affected decisions.
“I don’t know how this forecast applies to me.”
- Christy from Memphis TN
- Christy from Memphis TN
“Ada Monzon is like our community hero, she has the power to clean out a walmart.”
- Yaz from San Juan
- Yaz from San Juan
Concept Ideation
For the ideation phase we separated into sub groups in order to focus more individually on the three main problems. While each group formed decks for our presentation we were starting to see similar problems arising from our initial list of stakeholders. By forming groups of stakeholders and problem spaces, we further affinitized our ideas down to 3 main design spaces.
CONECEPT TIMELINE
Meet the Rowens
A family of four located in Savannah Ga. They live in a single family house in Savannah's historic district less than a mile from the Savannah River.
"We just started a family and bought this house, a hurricane would be a really big deal"
The Rowens are originally from the midwest and don't have extensive experience with hurricanes or a support network of family on the East Coast.
The Rowens depend on forecasts provided by local news stations and the NWS. Since the Rowens have no experience with hurricanes, they don't know what to do with the information they are given.
“We enjoy halloweening with our neighbors and playing games with our google home in the morning. ”
CONCEPT
A little more than halfway into our 9-week project, our class had three well-defined problem spaces and opportunities. Up until this point our class had been working as one fluid team, however once we nailed down our three concepts, we broke off into focused task groups. My team was focused on how to portray and relay the forecast in the most concise way possible to citizens.
Information Experience
Dawn is a local weather information & ride sharing platform that improves the process of communication, evacuation, and recovery
from hurricanes for citizens, federal and local governments.
from hurricanes for citizens, federal and local governments.
Explicit Forecast Visualizations
The cone of uncertainty and other hurricane forecast tools are poorly understood by the public. More times than not, they are misunderstood and in turn create mistrust with the public. Dawn not only shows the probability for the hurricane, but also explains
what the user is looking at in the most
comprehendible way. Users are notified of the
kind of damage that is possible for their property
based on the projections.
what the user is looking at in the most
comprehendible way. Users are notified of the
kind of damage that is possible for their property
based on the projections.
DAWN CUI DESIGN
OUR PRESENTATION
Thank You!