Beacon / Mitigating motivation and knowledge barriers of preparing for natural disasters

Project Type

UX Research and Design Capstone

Timeline

January - April 2022

Team

Nida Hameed
Clément Liu
Isabel Talsma
Me

Skills

Interaction Design
UI Design
User Flow
Generative Research
Concept Testing

Outcome

30+ screens for an iOS app prototype and a technical implementation plan

Value

Unlike static, unpersonalized competitors, Beacon enables efficient and targeted preparation for disasters in users' area

Impact

Empowering folks to take strategic action ensures they're confidently equipped with the right tools

Motivation

Extreme weather and natural disasters are more frequent and intense

Weather catastrophes can impact almost every aspect of daily life, including our public infrastructure, food supply, and environment quality.

Problem

Although many of us are affected by these disasters, there’s a disparity between intent-to-prepare and actual preparation

84%

of people live in an area affected by some form of natural disaster in the last 3 years

29%

have a natural disaster emergency plan set in place

Solution

Beacon mitigates the motivational burden and knowledge gap of disaster preparation

Folks can take action that reflects their unique constraints to ensure they'll be better prepared for the unexpected.

Process

How did we design this end-to-end experience?

Generative Research

Explored disaster space in 3 expert interviews, competitor analysis, data review

Concept Ideation

Used storyboards to validate concepts & create a primary persona to guide direction

Iteration

Developed an information architecture, wireframes, and design components

Final Design

Created 30+ prototype screens and explored technical implementation methods

Critique

Presented design to panel of designers, our instructor, and classmates

Kickoff

We started generally, studying individual and systemic preparation barriers

Information integrity was key for users' safety, so we broadened our initial research scope to limit our bias, reveal misconceptions and discover opportunity areas.

Disaster Expert Interviews

Discovered best practices for training and response from 3 experts with 50+ years of combined experience

Competitive Analysis

Assessed 9 disaster preparation apps & services cited by our experts, as well as disaster platforms

FEMA Survey Analysis

Captured disaster preparation trends, behaviors, and barriers from ~17,000 households between 2019-2021

Research Insights

Preparation is an ongoing, individualized process, but people struggle with lack of education & motivation

Assumptions undermine safety

Many believe prepping is "one and done" or have a false sense of security, like stocking a few bottles thinking they'll later have easy water access

Circumstances influence needs

Your post-disaster needs depend on your area's risk-level, financial ability, illnesses, or if you have dependents

Small wins maintain momentum

Training creates key stress-response muscle memory. Folks are more willing to act if they think its impactful, and completing one step makes them more likely to take another

Design Opportunity

How might we help people feel more motivated to prepare for disasters

Tackling preparedness generally would be unproductive. After researching, our priority was to narrow the problem we'd address, so we began segmenting and ideating with different aspects of the disaster space.

Initial Concepts

We created storyboards of 4 tools targeting different catastrophes, issues, and audiences

Location-based, disasters education app

Emergency family planning and tracking app

Gamified preparation tablet app for kids

Preparation training and mock testing XR app

Concept Testing

We discovered that people favored the ideas that'd help them take worthwhile action at their own pace

We used the storyboards in speed-dates with our classmates to understand the usefulness of our ideas. Some weren't successful, but we identified the ones users connected with.

Context Driven

Location-based

Targets relevant disasters

Free or low-cost actions

Situation awareness (renter/owner, dependents)

Personalized Direction

Prioritized action

Progress tracking

Promotes accountability

Evacuation plan recommendations

Persona

Before diving into design, our persona solidified our product direction: young adults with little prep experience

Our competitive analysis and speed-dating sessions revealed how quickly resources could lose sight of their goals in pursuit of being "more helpful." We based our primary person on speed date participants: people moving to a new region with little or no prep experience.

Information Architecture

With a focused purpose and audience, we mapped out the architecture

We prioritized features based on what we identified participants were most interested in and discoveries from our generative research.

Ideation

I focused on creating wireframes for onboarding, community, and maps

Onboarding included a questionnaire to launch the personalized preparation experience. My goals were to quickly establish the value of the questions (and the app) and create a compelling first impression to support retention.

Design System

Our goal for Beacon's interface was to evoke trust and peace of mind

We wanted to counteract the negative emotions surrounding disasters and break from the cold minimalism commonly used in other disaster apps. After gathering inspiration, we selected a color palette and typography.

Key Features

Beacon empowers folks to keep preparing by equipping them with the right tools and personalized steps

Onboarding

Identifies what users need to account for based on their lifestyle & circumstances

Dashboard

Highlights top priority tasks & resources that align with the user's guidelines

Profile

Stores comprehensive plans & check-lists for users' most visited locations

Checklists

Location-informed checklists break down preparation into manageable steps

Disaster-Specific Resources

Connects users to educational content, tips & guides for disasters affecting their area

Evacuation Planning

Users can easily scope out emergency routes & safe zones

Reflection

Centering emotion-conscious design

Throughout our process, people shared their fears, hesitations, and traumas regarding natural disasters. Empathizing with these stories helped us protect people's safety and create moments of peace with this conceptual tool.

What's the design communicating?

Our experts emphasized non-judgmental education, so we focused on creating a positive digital space through design and writing.

Research with care

Japan experienced an earthquake while we recruiting participants. Since some were directly affected, we switched methods to safely discover people's habits.

Routinely checking our bias

We were extremely motivated to defuse our assumptions since they could hinder well-being. As a result, collective and individual reflection was ongoing during our process.