Designing a smart home system to detect the risks of severe weather
UX Designer
Role:
Natural disasters cause enormous damage and losses every year, both economically and in terms of human lives.
Caution is a proactive disaster management system designed to mitigate risks and ensure the well-being of residents.
Year:
2023
Figma, Figjam
Tools:
Problem Discovery
Disasters are sudden events that cause widespread damage, destruction and human suffering. Disaster management aims to mitigate the potential damage from the disasters, ensure immediate and suitable assistance to the victims and attain effective and rapid recovery. Disasters cannot be predicted but the least that one can do is to be prepared for it.
Problem
Although natural disasters attract a lot of attention, there is a lack of modern technologies used in these areas.
Stage 1
Discover
Identify user needs and pain points.
The society must be trained to handle and help each other in case of natural disaster scenarios. If inputs from various sections of society should be taken and incorporated in proper planning of preparedness and relief operations.
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Secondary Research -
Gathering existing knowledge before digging deeper. Existing data is summarized and collated for research.
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User Surveys -
To directly collect user data.
Research Methods
Research
Leverage existing data for informed design.
Society must be trained to handle and help each other in case of natural disaster scenarios. Inputs from various sections of society should be taken and incorporated into proper planning of preparedness and relief operations. They are based on people, cost and effects.
People
32,125 lives were tragically lost due to natural disasters only in 2022.
In 2022, the United States experienced 26 natural disasters, which made it the most natural catastrophe-prone country in the world.
Effects
An estimated of 186 million people were effected in 2022.
Human impacts from natural disasters are not fully captured in mortality rates. Injury, homelessness, and displacement can all have a significant impact on populations.
Cost
Global economic losses from natural disasters was $313 billion in 2022.
Around 45% of USD 275 billion in global economic losses from natural disasters were covered by insurance. A 5 -7% in annual insured losses.
Why design a home system for storms, wildfires, and landslides?
Storms, wildfires, and landslides tend to occur more regularly than other catastrophic events. Designing for common threats improves general disaster readiness. Storms can be forecasted days in advance. Similarly, landslides and wildfires have known seasonal patterns and risk factors that can be prepared for.
Phases of disaster management
Stage 2
Define
Analyze the data to guide to the potential ideas.
Through the research, I broke it into multiple groups which helped to understand the areas I could focus on and what I knew about each area.
1. Preparedness
2. Response
3. Early Warning Systems
4. Technology
5. Data
Key insights and findings
Unpredictable nature of natural disasters makes preparing for them and responding a constant challenge.
01
Most people don’t feel fully prepared for natural disasters with many lacking key emergency preparedness items.
03
The limited warning time preceding many natural disasters restricts the ability to alert and evacuate threatened communities.
02
While evacuation gets a lot of attention, natural disaster preparedness and mitigation need to be focused on as well.
04
Problem Statement
"How might we prepare and mitigate the risks of storms, landslides and wildfires?"
Stage 3
Develop
Brainstorm, translating user needs and test potential solutions.
Translate user needs and goals into potential design solutions. I researched various technologies and competitors in the market. I started exploring various possibilities and iterating on the solution.
Solution
A proactive disaster management system designed to mitigate risks and ensure the well-being of residents in the face of severe weather conditions, offering swift response and protection.
How does it work?
Building a disaster management system on top of any smart home hub offers several potential advantages.
Leveraging existing hardware: Utilizes already installed smart home devices like sensors, cameras and thermostats, reducing the need for additional costly infrastructure.
Predictive analytics: This data can be combined with weather forecasts and historical information to predict impending risks and proactively warn residents before the event occurs.
How does the technology work?
Caution would use LiDAR sensors. Lidar, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging is a remote sensing method that uses light as a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth.
After research into LiDAR technology, A lidar instrument consists of a laser, a scanner and a specialized GPS receiver. The laser sends out precisely generated light pulses. The scanner is calibrated to detect the returning light pulses that the laser has produced after they have been reflected off objects. The receiver calculates exactly how far the light travelled based on the position of the lidar instrument, allowing for very, very accurate mapping of space and the position of objects.
Sitemap
Structure and navigation.
Wireframes
Design skeletal blueprints of user interfaces.
User Testing
7 users and some insightful obsevations
Designing the study and method used:-
Think-aloud method:- The think-aloud method provides a window into the minds of the users. Using this method helps understand user behaviour and patterns more easily. It helped to understand usability and gather qualitative information on the user's intent.
Task: Review the evacuation plan and find the closest safe house location.
Users: 7 users
KPIs considered: Task Success Rate (%), Average task completion time (in mins), Users Satisfaction Survey
75%
users successfully completed all the tasks.
80%
users found navigation confusing & some functions were not well integrated.
90%
users want to know more details about how their houses might be effected.
95%
users felt it would work smoothly when integrated with a handy device.
Stage 4
Deliver
The final experience
Personalized Homepage
This gives users a customized perspective of their home, alerts about the locations surrounding them, and safety guidelines for severe weather conditions.
Clear Warnings
This would leverage the lidar sensor to collect data from around the city and provide clear, fast, and actionable alerts to users in the event of a possible or ongoing natural disaster.
Recommendation for Safety and Evacuation Planning
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